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Our live coverage of the Los Angeles Wildfires has moved here.
An exhaustive catalog of the great Austrian-American composer Arnold Schoenberg’s work — including original scores and manuscripts — has been completely destroyed by the Palisades wildfire, according to his family and the archival center they own.
Belmont Music Publishers, which had preserved and rented Schoenberg’s scores out to performers around the world, “was among (the Palisades fire’s) most significant casualties,” wrote his son, Larry Schoenberg, in a statement shared on Facebook by a family member.
“The entire inventory of sales and rental materials—comprising some manuscripts, original scores, and printed works—has been lost in the flames,” Larry wrote. “For a company that focused exclusively on the works of Schoenberg, this loss represents not just a physical destruction of property but a profound cultural blow.”
Belmont Music Publishers was founded in 1965, fifteen years after Schoenberg’s death, dedicated to publishing, renting and selling works from its catalog — which “are foundational to the 20th-century classical repertoire,” said the statement.
Schoenberg was best known for developing a 12-tone system of musical composition. He spent the last decades of his life in California, where he taught at the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA).
The loss of his catalog now means that musicians worldwide can no longer access the works distributed by Belmont Music Publishers — which called it a “devastating” loss. The company will now work to digitize its remaining collections and share them online, Larry wrote in the statement.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Monday issued an executive order to speed up the rebuild efforts after the Los Angeles County wildfires.
More than 60 square miles has been burnt in the three fires burning across the region so far.
“This unprecedented natural disaster warrants an unprecedented response that will expedite the rebuilding of homes, businesses and communities,” Mayor Bass said in a statement provided by her office.
The order means:
• A task force will be created to remove debris from impacted areas and mitigate for risk from storms.
• Clearing the way to rebuild homes as they were, establishes a one-stop-shop to swiftly issue permits in all impacted areas, directs City departments to expedite all building permit review/inspections, bypasses state environmental discretionary review, allows rebuilding “like for like” and waives City discretionary review processes.
• City departments will have to expedite permits for houses to be rebuilt in affected areas provided it is compliant with planning regulation. The review of a building permit is to be finished within 30 days of the submission of a complete application. The houses must be rebuilt in a “like for like” fashion and cannot be 10% larger than they were previously.
• The City of Los Angeles will provide 1,400 units of housing to those who have lost their homes, and will direct the Department of Building and Safety to expedite temporary certificates of occupancy for those units.
With no predicted rain for the next day days and winds picking up north of the current blazes, firefighters and emergency personnel are on standby for the threat of additional fires, most likely to emerge in the area between Ventura Valley and San Diego, Cal Fire information officer David Acuña said.
“Anything that is not currently on fire or was not on fire means that it’s a potential start,” Acuña told CNN. “There’s so much fuel on the ground, and by that, I mean grass and brush.”
When asked what the risk assessment is for the upcoming weeks and months, Acuña said that Cal Fire has “done away with the term ‘fire season’.”
“We now refer to it as fire year,” he added.
Investigations into the cause of every fire is underway, with each jurisdiction conducting its own assessment.
“We don’t have any results yet on those, but as soon as we do, they’ll announce,” Acuña said.
More than 900 incarcerated firefighters are on the frontlines battling ongoing wildfires –– a long-standing program in California prisons that has received a split response from the public.
Prisoners interested in fire rescue take classes and go through field training before they are accepted into a program which prison reform activists say is underfunded and too dangerous.
A report published in 2022 by the American Civic Liberties Union (ACLU) noted that over 1000 incarcerated firefighters were injured in a 5-year period. Four have died on the job.
Inmate firefighters are paid $10.24 an hour, with an additional $1 an hour working in emergencies. California’s minimum wage is $16.50 an hour.
But former inmate turned firefighter Anthony Pedro tells CNN’s Laura Coates that the program is rewarding.
“Being able to be there for someone on their worst day –– to rise to that occasion –– that’s an honor,” he said, adding that his first medical call as an inmate firefighter was to perform CPR on a baby.
Pedro sees the program as an “internship” and credits it for preparing him for his career.
“The way me and my peers, when we were incarcerated, the way we looked at it was like, this is our internship –– and this beats being behind the walls. We can get this career in the process. And that’s exactly what I was able to do.”
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power may deliberately cut power in the coming days as strong winds are expected to arrive early Tuesday morning, raising the risk of fires starting and spreading.
“Los Angeles is in active fire response and local fire authorities may ask LADWP to de-energize power lines as a preventative measure, to help prevent wildfires and protect communities,” it said Monday on its website.
It asked customers living in elevated and high-risk fire areas to prepare for possible outages that could last over 48 hours. Restoring power afterward will also take time, it said — LADWP crews must first manually inspect and repair any damaged equipment.
It advised residents to prepare by:
- keeping cellphones fully charged
- keeping a fully charged portable charger or power bank
- keeping a flashlight and extra batteries nearby — not relying on candles during a power outage
As of Monday evening, the LADWP had restored power to all customers affected by the fires last week, except those where power was shut off by request of fire authorities, it said.
Dry hydrants: The LADWP and other utility companies like Southern California Edison had previously turned off power to protect firefighters from falling power lines. But it also posed a problem last week when crews faced water shortages from hydrants.
In Altadena, where the Eaton Fire broke out, issues with dry hydrants were traced back to a lack of electricity, said Bob Gomperz, a board member at a utility company that provides water to the western region of Altadena.
In foothill communities like Altadena, he said, water needs to be pumped into tanks at higher elevations so the water can flow downhill when needed relying on gravity. But after those tanks were drained by firefighters, they couldn’t be refilled — the power shutoffs meant they couldn’t pump water to where it was needed.
President Joe Biden also pointed to the same issue last week, saying fire officials brought generators into those areas to facilitate water pumping.
A new blaze, the Auto Fire, broke out late Monday in Ventura County, part of an area under the highest fire threat as winds pick up, prompting a swift response from local fire departments.
“The fire is currently at 5 acres in medium fuels with a moderate rate of spread. Approximately 75 firefighters are on scene working to stop forward spread of the fire,” the Ventura County Fire Department said in a social media post.
The flames were first reported in the river bottom area of Oxnard around 7:14 p.m., according to a California Highway Patrol incident report. Evacuation orders were issued for the area, according to Cal Fire.
The new fire comes as the Storm Prediction Center earlier issued an “extremely critical fire” area, its highest level, for more than 2 million people, including Oxnard, Santa Clarita, Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley.
CNN’s Robert Shackelford contributed to this report.
Widespread winds of 30-50 mph have been reported across the greater Los Angeles region for Monday, with the highest gusts across the isolated peaks have exceeded 60 mph.
Below are some of the highest and notable wind reports from the National Weather Service in Los Angeles on Monday:
- Magic Mountain Truck Trail: 67 mph
- East Simi Valley Cochran: 58 mph
- Camarillo Airport: 48 mph
- Malibu Hills: 47 mph
- Ventura: 46 mph
Winds are expected to continue to increase through the overnight hours and should begin to peak Tuesday morning and afternoon.
The Storm Prediction Center has an “extremely critical fire” area, its highest level, for over 2 million people, including Oxnard, Santa Clarita, Thousand Oaks, and Simi Valley. Here winds of 40-70 or greater mph are possible, which could cause any new fires to spread quickly.
There are over 8 million people under critical fire risks, or a level 2 of 3, across Southern California including Santa Ana, Riverside, San Bernardino, Irvine and Ontario.
“Damaging winds could blow down trees and power lines. Widespread power outages are possible. Travel will be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result,” warns the National Weather Service.
Los Angeles County currently has over 40,000 customers without power while Ventura County has over 20,000 customers without power as of 12 a.m., and these numbers could increase as the winds ramp up Tuesday morning and afternoon.
Dalyce Curry was an extra in Hollywood films for decades –– making appearances in films like “The Blues Brothers,” “The Ten Commandments,” and many more. Later in her life, she became a nurse.
But to her granddaughter, Dalyce Kelley, the 95-year-old was known as “Mama Dee” –– a vibrant and loving woman adored by those who knew her.
Curry was among the victims of the Eaton Fires, which swept through her home of 20 years in Altadena. Her remains were found after authorities said her cottage had totally burned down.
“I live with a lot of guilt,” Kelley said to CNN’s Laura Coates. “I’m trying to process all of this. I’ve never experienced this type of devastation in my life. My grandmother –– our grandmother –– she meant the world to us.”
Kelley, who was taking care of her ailing sister, learned about her grandma’s passing after asking a police to check whether Mama Dee was able to scape.
“I grabbed an officer, and I said, ‘my grandmother is up there. She’s in her house. You have to go get her,’” Kelley said. Fifteen minutes later, Kelley received a call from authorities saying that her grandmother’s house had burned down.
Curry is best remembered for leaving a heartwarming voicemail greeting to her callers. This is what she said:
“Hi! God loves you so much. No matter what! So be happy, okay? Leave me your message, and always remember blessings upon blessings are sent your way!”
Dalyce Curry, victim of the Eaton Fires
The usage of “Particularly Dangerous Situation” (PDS) red flag warnings by the National Weather Service in Los Angeles is a relatively recent phenomenon, only dating back to 2020.
What does the alert mean? They used this special and rare type of red flag warning to distinguish the most extreme areas of red flag warnings to both first responders and to the public. These warnings usually have a combination of some of the highest wind gusts and dry air and can be exacerbated by any ongoing drought. All of Los Angeles County is currently in some level of drought.
“While red flag warnings and PDS’s do not predict fire starts, they do highlight an extremely dangerous environment that is favorable to very rapid fire growth IF a fire does start,” states the weather service office in Los Angeles.
After 2020’s two PDS red flag warnings, they were not used again until 2024. This is largely because the greater Los Angeles area saw near record rainfall between 2022 and 2024, along with extensive vegetation growth.
But the weather pattern has shifted. Los Angeles has only seen 0.03 inches of rainfall since October 1, which has led to rapid onset of drought for the region. This is especially troubling as December and January are supposed to be some of the wettest months of the year for the city. The first PDS red flag warning since 2020 occurred across parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties on November 6-7, 2024, and helped with the spread of Mountain Fire and its destruction of over 200 structures.
A little over a month later, the weather service in Los Angles issued another PDS red flag warning for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties on December 9-10, 2024, which helped the Franklin Fire spread and destroy 20 structures.
Another PDS red flag warning was issued for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties on January 7-8, as a historic windstorm helped with the spread of the Palisades and Eaton Fires which destroyed thousands of homes and are ongoing.
The next PDS is in effect beginning Tuesday morning through Wednesday at noon for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, where winds over 70 mph are possible.
The Los Angeles Rams paid tribute Monday night to the first responders and those impacted by the wildfires during the Rams 27-9 wild-card victory over the Minnesota Vikings, a poignant moment full of hometown pride as the community stood together.
Emotional remembrances for the victims of the disaster marked the pregame ceremonies, with the Rams wearing special LAFD gear on the sideline to honor the firefighters battling the blazes.
Before kickoff, the Rams’ mascot, Rampage, along with the Cardinals flag crew, ran onto the field with “LA Together” flags.
Once the game got started, the emotion of the last week poured out of the Rams in the form of football dominance.
After the game, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford addressed the obstacles the team overcame.
“We knew what we were playing for today. It was go get this win but this is for the people of Los Angeles, struggling right now. It’s unbelievable to watch the whole community, the state, the country get behind them. It’s a tough time to be back there,” Stafford said. “We’re just happy we came out and played like this tonight to give us something to be happy about.”
Location change: The Rams were the home team, but the game was played in Phoenix due to the fire devastation on Southern California.
As the Eaton Fire barreled through Altadena, Antonio Antonetti was determined to stay and save his home. In the end, he was able to save seven homes.
“Some friends called around midnight and said to leave,” Antonetti told CNN on Monday.
“I said I can’t lose my house. I don’t have family that can bail me out.”
The 66-year-old said he watched the fire from afar but soon, it was just blocks from his home.
“My tenant knocked on my door at 4 a.m. and said we have to leave I said go ahead and go,” he said. “I saw fire jumping from house to house.”
He said he called his neighbor who told him he had already evacuated.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Antonetti said he told his neighbor. “I’m going to do the best I can to save our homes.”
Antonetti, along with two other neighbors in their 60s, stayed behind running from home to home to extinguish flames as embers started fires in the neighbor’s yards. He said a key to his plan was to turn the water hoses in all the neighbors’ homes so that they were easily accessible for when they needed to put out hot spots.
“I made a plan that worked. I created a perimeter that would not burn.”
He said the yards and fences were the first that would catch fire, so he would extinguish those and it helped the fire from not spreading to the homes. At one point during the firefight, he said the water was cut for a short time.
Along with his plan, he said, “Of course, you have to have some courage.”
He said they went from house to house until he saw the flames at the rear of his own property. “The house behind me started catching fire but it was impossible to stop,” he said.
In a video he recorded, the garage of his neighbor is engulfed in flames and a car is seen melted down to just the frame. Antonetti is standing with a water hose, trying to control the bright orange embers from lighting his yard on fire.
He was able to control the fire from spreading to his home. He said he saved seven homes, including his own.
After battling the fires, he said that looters attempted to get into his neighbor’s home and he went to confront them.
“I was not going to let looters destroy what hard I worked for. They couldn’t get in the house.”
Antonetti said police were quick to respond and they sent more personnel to secure the area.
Edwin Castro, the Altadena resident who won a record-setting $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot in 2023, has lost at least one of his newly acquired homes to the devastating wildfires sweeping through Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Times reported.
After taxes, Castro’s winnings amounted to about $1 billion, which he used to purchase properties in Malibu, Altadena and the Hollywood Hills, according to property records acquired by the Times. By the night of January 8, two of his homes were in evacuation zones, and one — a $3.85 million ocean-view mansion in Malibu — was destroyed by the Palisades fire, which began January 7.
The Sunset Fire also threatened Castro’s $25.5 million Hollywood Hills estate, while his $3.98 million Altadena home was spared, as was the gas station where he purchased his winning ticket, the outlet reported.
Castro acquired the property through a limited liability company (LLC), which shares its listed business managers with the LLCs responsible for his other two real estate purchases, according to public records, per the Times.
Little is known about Castro, who has remained largely out of the public eye since claiming his prize.
Some of the first to witness what may have been the start of the Palisades Fire were a group of hikers in Temescal Canyon, according to an interview with Backpacker.
Their hike on the morning of January 7 was interrupted by smoke and flames, one of the hikers told AP. Later that day, the Palisades Fire blew a path of destruction through part of Southern California.
Kai Cranmore told Backpacker that he and five friends had set out on a 4-mile loop through Temescal Canyon but had stopped at Skull Rock for what he called a crowdsourced meditation. Cranmore told AP he “turned around and there was a plume of smoke rolling over the mountain like right behind us.”
In a video shared with AP, Cranmore and his friends are seen running as a cloud of smoke forms in the distance. “It’s right where we were,” a friend is heard shouting. Cranmore told AP he could hear the sound of fire crackling as they ran to safety.
“It was terrifying to, to like feel like you’re running for your life in a situation like that,” he said.
Satellite imagery taken that morning at 10:37 local time by the European Space Agency shows a first glimpse of the devastating Palisades Fire.
The smoke was coming from an area directly east of the Los Angeles neighborhood, The Summit. In that area is a number of hiking trails, including the Temescal Ridge Trail — the wildfire is burning right alongside it, according to previous CNN reporting.
CNN has geolocated Cranmore’s video to be less than half a mile away from that location.
A law enforcement source tells CNN’s Josh Campbell there is no leading theory at this time as to the cause of the Pacific Palisades fire. Investigators are aware of various possibilities.
The source said they are also aware of the video AP obtained showing the hikers running from a fire near Skull Rock but it’s too soon for them to begin drawing conclusions.
The ATF’s National Response Team arrived this weekend and just started their assessments today, which involves surveying various aspects of the fire to determine possible place of origin, which will then help potentially determine the cause, the source continued.
CNN’s Paul Murphy and Josh Campbell contributed to this report
The major entertainment studios that call Los Angeles home are giving back to the fire ravaged city.
Disney, Comcast, Netflix, Amazon, Sony and Warner Bros. Discovery have each donated between $5 million and $15 million to immediate fire relief and rebuilding efforts in Los Angeles County, which has been devastated by ongoing wildfires fires.
Broadcasting legend Jay Leno and actor Sean Penn spoke to CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Monday about the fire burning in the Palisades area and the depth of devastation it’s brought to the area.
“You know, it’s unbelievable,” Leno told Cooper. “It’s the biggest natural disaster. Not that 9/11 was a natural disaster, but it’s literally on that scale. I mean, it’s 10,000 buildings.”
Leno said he’s trying to look on the bright side of things, despite the destruction, as the community works to recover.
“I mean, it’s an entire city wiped out,” Leno said. “I mean, Pacific Palisades — it doesn’t exist and probably won’t exist for the next five, six years.”
Penn said he’s been on the ground since Day One with the relief organization he co-founded, CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort), to help with immediate needs of residents — particularly cash assistance.
“When you have the kind of winds that we had, I don’t think mankind has come up with a solution to that. Mother Nature is bigger and more powerful than us,” the Oscar winner said. “So many people that we all know and care about lost their homes.”
The Palisades Fire was 23,713 acres as of Monday evening and was 14% contained, according to Cal Fire.
The City of Los Angeles is giving out free N95 masks at libraries, recreation centers and senior centers across the city to help combat poor air quality, they announced Monday.
“The South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD) is recommending that Angelenos wear well-fitting, medical grade masks while outside when air quality is poor, or if you smell smoke or see ash,” the city said in a news release.
To find mask distribution near you, check out lapl.org/branches or laparks.org/reccenter.
Whole neighborhoods have been devastated by the multiple wildfires that erupted in Los Angeles.
Firefighting crews have made progress as they try to contain the blazes, but officials say the fire threat will remain very high as dangerous winds return this week.
Here are some photos that caught our eye today.
Click here for the full gallery
Fire crews are making headway against the deadly fires that have scorched the Los Angeles area – decimating more than 60 square miles so far – but winds are expected to pick up though the next few days, making firefighting efforts challenging again.
More than 15,000 first responders are helping respond to fires across Southern California, according to the director of California Fire.
There is an ongoing investigation into how the blazes started, officials said. At least 24 people died in the fires, according to the medical examiner’s office.
- Palisades Fire: At 14% contained, the Palisades Fire has burned 23,713 acres, according to Cal Fire. It has seen “very little” growth in the last 36 hours, Jim Hudson of the agency said.
- Eaton Fire: It is 33% contained with 14,117 acres burned, fire officials said.
- Other fires: The Hurst Fire was at 95% containment with nearly 800 acres burned, according to Cal Fire.
Here are some of the key things we learned Monday:
- Wind forecast: The most powerful and concerning winds will arrive in the Los Angeles metro and surrounding areas in the early hours of Tuesday morning, forecasts show. A Red Flag Warning will be in effect in much of the area until Wednesday evening before moderating into the weekend, National Weather Service meteorologist Rich Thompson said.
- Drought conditions: An alarming lack of rainfall during what should be the wettest time of the year has left the region parched and defenseless against rogue sparks and the fury of winter’s Santa Ana winds. Below-average precipitation is forecast to persist into at least the first week of February.
- Fire investigation: A task force led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is investigating the cause of the fires, officials said. US Attorney Martin Estrada said federal officials plan to use federal arson statutes against anyone who may have recklessly or intentionally caused a fire.
- New lawsuit: Southern California Edison, the electrical utility for Los Angeles, has been sued for its alleged role in starting the Eaton Fire, according to the lawsuit. SCE has denied the allegation and said it found “no interruptions or operational/electrical anomalies” just before or after the fire. Local officials said Monday they still have not determined the cause of the fires, although they are investigating an electrical transmission tower in Eaton Canyon.
- Arrests and criminal charges: Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said 10 people are facing criminal charges — 9 for looting and one for arson, not connected to starting any of the major fires. Additionally, more than 40 people were arrested in Santa Monica’s evacuation zone, the police department said.
- Federal aid: House Speaker Mike Johnson said he personally believes conditions should be placed on California wildfire aid. Congress typically approves federal aid to rebuild after natural disasters without placing conditions. California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed at least $2.5 billion in additional funding to help the response to the fires.
- Awards shows: Both the Grammys and Oscars will proceed as planned on February 2 and March 2, respectively, organizers said. The Writers Guild of America East and West divisions said the union “will be delaying the announcement of Writers Guild Award nominees,” a spokesperson said.
A California couple’s Ring video captured their harrowing escape from their Altadena home as the Eaton Fire roared on a hillside near their property on Tuesday.
“It was 34 minutes of pure terror,” Jeffrey Ku said.
Ku said he initially didn’t notice the flames on Eaton Canyon until his wife Cheryll spotted the fire on the hillside while exiting the freeway on her way home from work.
“Cheryll saw the hillside kind of a glowing light from the freeway,” Jeffrey Ku said. “And she wasn’t sure if it was someone doing some work in the hills, or what. But she had a fear that it was a fire.”
Cheryll Ku can be heard saying in the Ring video, “We have a very big problem.”
The Ring camera, which Jeffrey Ku said was still working because he had plugged the internet into his little generator, captured the husband and wife loading up their car as embers and smoke from the nearby flames flowed through their neighborhood.
“It was something out of a horror movie,” Jeffrey Ku said. “Our worst nightmare is to see a fire that close, like it’s a straight shot a quarter mile from our house to that hillside where that tower [was], so it was literally right there.”
“The smoke had started to engulf us,” Jeffrey Ku said. “Our eyes started to burn. I couldn’t breathe. I had to give Cheryll and me masks to continue packing the car. Embers started flying everywhere; every time I checked on the fire, it was getting closer and closer.”
Once at the hotel, the Ku’s Ring camera was still operational, so they could see what was happening in their neighborhood until 3 a.m. before it cut out. On Wednesday, Jeffrey Ku was able to access their neighborhood, and that’s when he saw that their house was still standing.
Unfortunately, some of their neighbors were not as fortunate.
In an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett, Jeffrey Ku said the couple knows that they were fortunate. “First of all, that we have ourselves and our health. And we were able to get out safely.”
Watch some of the dramatic footage from that night below