By Chad Terhune and Rollo Ross
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Los Angeles officials told most wildfire evacuees on Thursday to stay away from their homes for at least another week as emergency services remove toxic waste from burned neighborhoods and cut power and gas lines that pose a hazard amid the rubble.
Landslides have further threatened devastated hillsides, where leveled structures are no longer holding the ground in place and water from fire hoses and broken pipes has saturated the ground, adding more stress and pain to people suffering from the worst natural disaster in Los Angeles history.
With the wildfires now in their 10th day, firefighters expressed relief that they weathered the recent red flag conditions of strong desert winds and low humidity without either of the two monster fires growing.
But the National Weather Service warned that breezes off the ocean and clouds will drop briefly as dangerous wildfires are forecast to return on Sunday.
Frustrated evacuees are eager to return home to assess the damage and salvage mementos or medicine, but officials say it’s too dangerous or too overwhelming for first responders still dealing with an imminent disaster that has killed at least 27 people.
Frank McGrath, 46, was at the FEMA disaster center in Pasadena on Thursday. He, his wife Bridget and their 9-year-old daughter lost their home in Eaton (NYSE: ) went bust and now live with Bridget’s mother nearby.
McGrath, a film and television editor, said he can’t wait to go back and search the ruins for surviving family heirlooms. But he knows he probably lost the quilts with pictures of his grandmother and late mother.
“Is my wedding ring buried somewhere?” he said. “Clearly there are hazardous materials in there. We want to go in, but we understand why it’s restricted.”
Even for people whose homes survived the fires, like Melanie Alonso, 28, a behavioral therapist who lives in Altadena, the toxic ash created by the fires and the insurance company’s instructions not to start cleanup until the company inspects the house means it’s impossible to return home .
“It’s like an ashtray right in front of you,” Alonso, who returned to her street Thursday, said of the ash-covered interior of her home. “Insurance is like not cleaning your house,” she added. “We were supposed to come back after a day, then a week…”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said, “You can see the emotional toll this disaster has taken on people, as I’ve talked to people who have lost their homes or who are unsure of the status of their homes or missing pets. The toll you can see mounting on them.”
The Palisades Fire on the west side of Los Angeles has consumed 23,713 hectares (96 square kilometers) and is 22% contained, meaning firefighters had control of that percentage of the perimeter.
The Eaton fire, which has burned 14,117 acres (57 square kilometers) in the foothills east of the city, is 55% contained, Cal Fire said.
Together, the two fires burned 59 square miles (152 square kilometers) — an area larger than Paris or nearly three times the size of Manhattan. A number of smaller wildfires in Southern California have been brought under control or largely under control.
At least 12,000 structures – many of them homes – were leveled or damaged, leaving 82,400 people still under evacuation orders and another 90,400 under evacuation warnings.
Some people disobeyed evacuation orders and died. Others found it impossible to leave their stricken neighbors and fought the flames with buckets.
John Carr said he stayed in his Pacific Palisades home to protect it because rebuilding would be too expensive. When the fire started to engulf his yard, Carr said he jumped into action, jumping over fences to tackle the fire from all directions using his hose, not just the flames but himself.
“I was up all night, all day. I slept a little bit after things calmed down a little bit, after all the houses burned down. I probably hurt my rib jumping the fence,” Carr said. “Some things in life are worth fighting for, you know.”
Los Angeles County officials said some people in the evacuation zones would be allowed to go home as early as a week, but others could take longer as officials tried to extricate and identify the charred human remains.
Damaged or destroyed homes are littered with hazardous materials, which must be removed by the US Environmental Protection Agency before local agencies can haul away the debris and restore broken utilities.
Massive amounts of debris and toxic material will damage or clog the region’s flood control system, which will need to be cleared before much-needed rains return after nine months of dry weather, said Mark Pestrella, director of Los Angeles County Public Works.
Police have experimented with escorting people to their homes for short visits, but found that it blocked streets needed for fire trucks and took up too many officers’ time, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said.
In addition to the immediate cleanup, state and local officials are preparing for extensive restoration efforts by suspending regulations that could cause delays.
Private forecaster AccuWeather estimates damage and losses at more than $250 billion, which would make the Los Angeles fires the costliest natural disaster in US history.
The destruction has also complicated the city’s preparations to host major sporting events such as part of the 2026 World Cup, the 2027 Super Bowl and the 2028 Olympics. Experts say moving the Olympics would be unlikely.
