Headway made on LA firefight

While some progress has been made on containing the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, the outlook remained bleak on Sunday, with the death toll now at 24, and the weather forecast not expected to be advantageous for extinguishing the fires.

There also are 16 people reported missing, and the fires have destroyed an estimated 12,000 structures, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for severe fire conditions through Wednesday, with sustained winds of 50 mph (80 kph) and gusts in the mountains reaching 70 mph. The most dangerous day will be Tuesday, said weather service meteorologist Rich Thompson.

"You're going to have really strong, gusty Santa Ana winds, a very dry atmosphere and still very dry brush, so we still have some very critical fire weather conditions out there," Thompson said at a community meeting Saturday night.

The largest blaze, the Palisades Fire, has burned 23,707 acres and numerous homes, businesses and landmarks in Pacific Palisades and westward along Pacific Coast Highway, toward Malibu, according to Cal Fire, the state's Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention. As of Sunday morning, the fire was 11 percent contained.

Many parts of Brentwood, Calabasas, Encino, Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica are under evacuation orders or warnings. More than 12,000 structures remain threatened, the Times reported.

The Eaton Fire burned 14,117 acres along with many structures in Altadena and Pasadena. As of early Sunday, that fire was 27 percent contained.

The Kenneth Fire has burned 1,052 acres near the border of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. It is 100 percent contained, according to Cal Fire, and all evacuation warnings have been lifted.

The Hurst Fire burned 779 acres in the area around Sylmar, and evacuation orders also have been lifted. As of early Sunday, the fire was 76 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.

Eight of the deaths were attributed to the Palisades Fire, and 16 to the Eaton Fire, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner said in a news release Sunday evening.

Crews from California and nine other states are part of the response that includes more than 1,300 fire engines, 84 aircraft and over 14,000 personnel, including firefighters from Mexico.

"This is your Hurricane Katrina," Craig Fugate, who led the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) during the Obama administration, said in an interview with the Times, referring to the 2005 storm that slammed the New Orleans area.

"It will forever change the community. It will be a touch point that everybody will remember, before and after," he said. "And for Los Angeles, this will become one of the defining moments of the community, the city and the county's history."

Scores of Hollywood celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Paris Hilton, Mel Gibson, John Goodman and Mandy Moore, who live in the affected areas have seen their houses burned to the ground.

Governor Gavin Newsom, who has deployed 2,500 members of the California National Guard to assist in the crisis, issued an executive order Sunday aimed at fast-tracking the rebuilding of destroyed property by suspending some environmental regulations and ensuring that property tax assessments are not raised.

"We've got to let people know that we have their back," he said. "Don't walk away, because we want you to come back, rebuild, and rebuild with higher-quality building standards, more modern standards."

President-elect Donald Trump continued on Sunday to criticize how officials have handled the crisis.

"The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out. Thousands of magnificent houses are gone, and many more will soon be lost," he posted on his Truth Social site. "There is death all over the place. This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country. They just can't put out the fires. What's wrong with them?"

Newsom told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday that he had invited Trump to visit "in the spirit of an open hand, not a closed fist", but hadn't received a response.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Sunday that she has spoken with members of the incoming presidential administration and that she expects Trump will visit the region.

Bass, who is facing a change.org recall petition that had exceeded 109,000 signatures as of Sunday evening, had been attending Ghana's presidential inauguration, at the behest of President Joe Biden, she said, when the fires broke out last week.

Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley publicly criticized the city Friday for budget cuts that she said have made it harder for firefighters to do their jobs. She also blamed the city for water running out Tuesday, when about 20 percent of the hydrants tapped to fight the Palisades Fire were dry.

"I'm not a politician, I'm a public servant. It's my job as the fire chief for the Los Angeles City Fire Department to make sure our firefighters have exactly what they need to do their jobs," she told CNN.

Jillian Michaels, a podcaster and fitness expert with 1.6 million followers on X, told Fox Business on Friday: "This is all politics. You cut the budget of the Fire Department there by $17 million. Fire hydrants were broken. Reservoirs were dry.

"New reservoirs that were supposed to have been commissioned in 2014 via Proposition 1, not one of those reservoirs has been completed. The forests are mismanaged. No controlled burns have been done."

Thefts and looting also continue to be a concern, with authorities reporting more arrests.

Michael Lorenz, a captain with the Los Angeles Police Department, said seven people have been arrested in the last two days.

"We even made arrests of two individuals that were actually posing as firefighters coming and in and out of houses, so we're paying very, very close attention to everybody," Lorenz said at a community meeting on Saturday.

Agencies contributed to this story.