With fires still burning across Southern California, Los Angeles residents forced to flee their homes have started to return to their neighborhoods, many of them rendered unrecognizable, reduced to little but ruins and rubble by the relentless flames.
Bridget Berg watched in real time as the devastating Eaton Fire slowly consumed her Altadena home, just one of more than 7,000 structures burned in the blaze. It initially broke out on Tuesday, just north of Pasadena, and after four longs days of effort, firefighters have only just begun to make progress battling back the flames.
With the Eaton Fire now 15% contained, officials on Friday lifted mandatory evacuation orders for much of the area, giving some residents their first opportunity to contend with the reality of what they have lost.
Berg said she and her family decided to return to their neighborhood “just to make it real.” Together, they sifted through the charred remnants of what had been their home for 16 years.
“It’s not like we just lost our house — everybody lost their house,” she reflected.
Ana Yaeger said she and her husband were initially hesitant to return to their home near Pasadena.
“It was just dust,” she said, adding that fires “are still going everywhere.”
The devastation wrought by the Eaton Fire — which has so far burned through more than 14,000 acres — is second only to the massive Palisades Fire, the largest of four blazes still actively burning in the Los Angeles region. Its flames pushed east late Friday night, triggering a new evacuation order spanning much of the Brentwood neighborhood as well as parts of Encino.
The Palisades and Eaton fires — which together have killed at least 11 people — are now considered among the most destructive and costliest in L.A. history.
Days later and it’s still unclear what sparked the flames, all of them breaking out within a densely populated, 25-mile swath of land north of downtown Los Angeles. Some have placed much of the blame on local leaders and politicians.
AP Photo/John Locher
A person walks through a neighborhood destroyed by the Palisades Fire on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in the Pacific Palisades section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Los Angeles Chief Kristin Crowley on Friday blasted the city over a recent budget cut that has hampered the department’s ongoing firefighting efforts.
“My message is the fire department needs to be properly funded. It’s not,” Crowley fold Fox LA. She also pointed to the shut down of Santa Ynez Reservoir, which can hold up to 117 gallons of water. It was undergoing repairs and was empty when the fires started, a fact the department was not alerted to in advance. As a result, some fire hydrants ran dry during efforts to fight the flames.
Crowley has since sat down with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who has faced severe backlash over her handling of the blazes.
An investigation into the reservoir shutdown has since been ordered, with Gov. Gavin Newsom calling the matter “deeply troubling.”
As of Saturday, more than 100,000 residents remain under mandatory evacuation orders.
With News Wire Services
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