Death Toll From Los Angeles Wildfires Rises to 24 as Officials Zero in on Potential Source of Largest Inferno

Fire investigators are looking into the possibility that the cause for the deadly Palisades at Los Angeles might be attributable to dormant embers from a previous fire that broke out and was put down in the area on New Year’s Eve.State and federal agencies have descended on a sliver of a mountain ridge to examine the burn scar of a fire that was extinguished six days before the Palisades Fire broke out, according to the Washington Post.An analysis of photos, videos, and satellite imagery by the newspaper showed that the palisades fire started in the same area as the previous fire.The wildfire could have been a result of a phenomenon known as reignition, in which scorched terrain can spawn a new blaze weeks after being first put out as fires smolder underground or inside wood. “We know that fires rekindle and transition from smoldering to flaming,” a professor of mechanical engineering and fire scientist at the University of California at Berkeley, Michael Gollner, told the Post after reviewing the materials they obtained. “It’s certainly possible that something from that previous fire, within a week, had rekindled and caused the ignition.”Cal Fire had even launched a social media campaign this summer to bring awareness to the issue of reignition.“Long after the large flames are gone, the threat of death or injury from a wildfire remains. The areas within the fire scar can smolder and reignite weeks later,” reads a Facebook post from the firefighting outfit.As the fire continues to engulf Los Angeles for a second week, the death toll has risen to 24. The Eaton Fire at Altadena has claimed the most, with 16, and another eight were found to have died in the Palisades Fire, according to Los Angeles Times.Among the dead are 66-year-old Victor Shaw, who died of smoke inhalation and burn injuries inside at his Altadena home, and Charles Mortimer, 84, of Pacific Palisades, who succumbed to a heart attack, smoke inhalation, and burns, the medical examiner confirmed.Additional victims confirmed by the Times includes Australian child actor Rory Sykes, 32, Malibu surfer Randall Miod, 55, and avid hang-glider Arthur Simoneau, 69. Officials have warned that the death toll will likely rise as search and rescue operations continue.“I don’t expect good news from those,” the Los Angeles County sheriff, Robert Luna, said at a press conference Sunday afternoon, adding that the grid searches of areas affected by the Palisades and Eaton fires will take a considerable amount of time given the destruction.“A lot of these areas still look like they were hit by a bomb,” he said. “There are live electrical wires, gas lines and other hazards.”The region is bracing for another week of potentially “explosive fire growth” as the NationalWeather Service warns of strong Santa Ana winds returning to the region, with gusts expected to reach up to 65 miles per hour from Monday through Wednesday.“There will be the potential for… explosive fire growth as those winds pick back up,” meteorologist Ariel Cohen told Los Angeles Times. “In the case of an evacuation order being issued, you have to follow that immediately. Seconds could save your life.”Over the weekend, an LAPD captain, Michael Lorenz, said the agency had also arrested looters dressed as first responders in some of the stricken areas. “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,” Mr. Lorenz said at a community meeting on Saturday.While a majority of the more than two dozen people arrested so far were accused of looting, two people were brought in after they were caught breaking a nighttime curfew imposed on Thursday. The unidentified pair were found milling about near the home of Vice President Harris in the enclave of Brentwood in the pre-dawn hours Saturday.

Death Toll From Los Angeles Wildfires Rises to 24 as Officials Zero in on Potential Source of Largest Inferno

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