California National Guard protecting designer boutiques from looters after LA fires: Live updates

Images from the Pacific Palisades Village show National Guard members keeping guard outside the designer stores.

The shopping center is owned by businessman Rick Caruso, who unsuccesfully ran for mayor against Karen Bass.

Caruso, who served as Commissioner for the L.A. Department of Water and Power, said he deployed a private team of firefighters to save the shopping center, one of few structures that remain standing in the area.

Thousands of Rams fans gathered at SoFi Stadium at the crack of dawn on Monday to be bused to Arizona for the team's Wild Card game against the Vikings.

The Rams were meant to host Minnesota after winning the NFC West crown, but the game was relocated to the Cardinals' State Farm Stadium in Glendale due to the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles.

Nonetheless, fans were lined up before sunrise to make the roughly six-hour bus trip to the stadium, with the Rams believed to have chartered over 40 buses for their supporters.

The once beautiful home of Miles Teller and his wife Keleigh Teller has tragically been burnt to the ground during the tragic and overwhelming wildfires that broke out in the Pacific Palisades.

Anthem Blue Cross says the money that will be handed out by its foundation will help with disaster response and recovery costs.

The president of Anthem Blue Cross Commercial Plans Beth Andersen said that with nearly 7,000 employees in California the company wanted to support the people affected by the fires.

'We want our associates, members, care providers, and communities to know we stand with them,' Andersen said.

The LAPD has offered an insight into the scams which will likely be circulating and targeting fire victims in the coming weeks.

'In the aftermath of recent fires, scammers are actively targeting vulnerable individuals and families, exploiting their distress,' an LAPD spokesperson said.

'Below are important warnings to help you recognize and avoid some of the most common scams.

'Always trust your instincts,' the LAPD warning read.

'If something feels off, take a step back and verify before proceeding.'

The fires that erupted across Los Angeles County are still raging, but already are projected to be among the costliest natural disasters in America's history.

While it's still too early for an accurate tally of the financial toll, the losses so far likely make the wildfires the costliest ever in the U.S., according to various estimates, leaving behind devastation that will ripple far beyond California's borders.

With tens of thousands of displaced LA residents who have lost all but the clothes they were wearing, plus a few select personal items, insurance companies will be on the hook for colossal payouts.

Pastor Jack Hibbs tok aim at California's Democratic leadership for the dystopian scenes amid the LA wildfires.

'Nobody can hide from this, there is no excuses, this is the wealthiest satte in the 50,' he said.

A frustrated Hibbs expressed outrage that officials couldn't better protect a city where residents pay such high taces.

'California has been under unmitigated 100 percent Democrat control,' he said.'

'.. and now you've gota situation where a catastrophe came and the billions of dollars you and I gave were diverted to woke, stupid democrat projects.'

The anger of homeowners in Los Angeles is growing as they are facing an insurance crisis as companies could struggle to cover the staggering costs of the wildfires.

Tens of thousands of displaced LA residents have lost everything but the clothes they were wearing and a few select personal items, leaving insurance companies on the hook for colossal payouts.

But customers of one of California's biggest insurancers ranted against the company last week after the company cancelled fire coverage for thousands of homeowners in the Pacific Palisades last summer in an attempt to avoid 'financial failure'.

NewsNation's Brian Entin shared footage of ash raining on LA.

On monday, Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden are 'deeply saddened by the devastation caused by the unprecedented ongoing' blazes.

Biden said he’d directed hundreds of federal personnel, as well as federal aerial and ground support, to aid in fighting the fires and supporting survivors and hard-hit communities.

'We will continue to use every tool available to support the urgent firefight as the winds are projected to increase,' Biden said, adding that firefighters 'represent the best of America.'

'We are not in the clear as of yet and we must not let our guard down,' LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said during the Monday news conference.

Anticipated winds, low humidity and dry conditions will keep the fire threat in the LA are critical, according to LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone.

'Please be assured that all fire departments and all law enforcement agencies in the area will be prepared,' LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said.

Officials have pre-positioned fire engines throughout the city so they’ll be ready to respond to any new fires and firefighters are patrolling high risk areas.

John Carr, 65, ignored evacuation warnings to stay behind and save his inherited house his parents built in Palisades.

He leapt over fences, hurting a rib in the process, as the flames began to enter his rear garden and creep nearer to his home.

A fascinating animation shows how water-bomber planes are helping extinguish the California wildfires.

The FlightAware video tracks the route of an actual CL-145 plane scoops up water from the Pacific Ocean just off the ruined Pacific Palisades.

It then flies back over the burning California mountains and flies around in circles while emptying its load over the flames.

The graphic that has been shared online has been sped up, with the actual journey tracked taking an hour.

Winds are starting to get stronger again on Monday, which could hamper efforts to contain the fires.

So far, 24 people have been reported killed and 14 missing, amid fears the final death toll could rise much higher.

The terrifying Nest Camera footage taken from the Pacific Palisades home of Kyle and Zibby Owens shows a ball of fire growing and stretching into the air just past their infinity pool.

Soon, the flames started licking the side of the pool, and quickly reached up to the roof line as embers fogged up the screen.

The fires have destroyed 40,000 acres across the most affluent neighborhoods in LA, with A-list celebrity homes and restaurant hotspots among the 12,300 structures wiped out.

The reality star, 40, uploaded a short video to her Instagram Stories on Friday from a snippet of a Fox 11 LA segment.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said on Monday the city is preparing to deal with another round of extreme wind.

At the same time, city officials are helping residents start to recover from losing their homes by opening centers to help them apply for replacement birth certificates and drivers licenses and other documents. Businesses are also being encouraged to apply for disaster relief loans.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said they’re starting to see criminals emerge.

Hochman added that price gauging has been happening with hotels and short-term rentals and medical supplies. Scammers are also contacting people for fake GoFundMe efforts, though he said the official organization has done a good job of putting protections against this in place and recommended making such donations through that site.

'The criminals have decided that this is an opportunity and I’m here to tell you this is not an opportunity. You will be arrested,' Hochman said.

At least 24 people have died in the fires, but more victims continue to be found.

Authorities have resumed sifting through the rubble for the third day.

'It is a very grim task. And we, unfortunately every day we’re doing this, we’re running across the remains of individual community members,' Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.

At least 23 people are missing in the fires.

'I believe we will continue to find remains,' Luna said, asking people for patience, adding that many are saying 'I just want to go look at my house and I want to see what’s left.’

'We know that but we have people literally looking for the remains of your neighbors,' Luna added.

Jillian Michaels is one of the few whose Malibu home has miraculously survived the devastating LA fires.

The Hollywood trainer joins Tom Hanks, Kate Hudson, Mark Hamill, and other stars whose properties have managed to escape the flames, which have claimed at least 16 lives and forced over 100,000 evacuations.

Unfortunately, not all celebrities escaped unscathed, as stars like Anthony Hopkins, Paris Hilton, Spencer Pratt, Jeff Bridges, and others saw their homes go up in smoke.

Spooked Gavin Newsom has lashed out at incoming White House official Elon Musk on X, accusing him of spreading 'lies' about the Los Angeles fires.

The California Governor shared a video of Musk speaking with a command team about water availability to tackle the historic ongoing blazes, claiming it showed him being 'exposed by firefighters for his own lies'.

But it is unclear what 'lies' Newsom was referring to in the clip, which sees Musk discuss the supply of water available to firefighters during the inferno.

A growing force of firefighters moved into the Los Angeles area Monday as more powerful winds were expected to trigger new wildfires that could set back the recent progress made in containing blazes that have destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 24 people.

Crews and equipment arrived from across the US and from Canada and Mexico — including water trucks and planes that drop firefighting chemicals — as the National Weather Service warned that the coming days could become 'particularly dangerous.'

Director Nate Clark confronted the unidentified man in a video he posted to Instagram on Saturday, asking for the public's help to find him.

'Here's the guy who just cut the little old lady off,' Clark said as he zoomed his camera in on a man driving a Chevy Silverado on a residential road.

Beyonce's public charity foundation, BeyGOOD, has donated $2.5 million to help aid the Los Angeles fire relief as blazes continue to rage throughout Southern California.

The Halo singer, 43, aims to assist victims of the devastating fires that began earlier this week on Tuesday amid strong Santa Ana winds - with the death toll rising to 24 as of Sunday. 

More than 50 A-listers abandoned their luxurious California mansions and fled for their lives after the fires first broke out last Tuesday, with dozens now confirming that their homes were reduced to rubble in the devastating fires.

Mel Gibson's Malibu home is 'completely gone' after the roaring infernos rolled through, though the actor confirmed his chickens survived.

Broadway producer Candy Spelling confirmed that her $23million Malibu vacation home was destroyed in the fires, telling TMZ that she is in 'shock' but also 'beyond grateful for the memories' her family had in the home.

Similarly, Bella Hadid was left heartbroken after learning her childhood Malibu home had been reduced to rubble.

In all, four fires in the LA area have consumed over 62 square miles, an area larger than San Francisco.

As of Monday morning, the Palisades Fire was 11 percent contained and containment on the Eaton Fire reached 27 percent.

Those two blazes alone accounted for 59 square miles.

When evacuation orders came down, Colvin was at work. He then spent five hours trying to get through traffic in an attempt to return to his home and save his dogs, Oreo and Tika Tika Tika.

Dalyce Curry, 95, died after the Eaton Fire tore through her property just north of Los Angeles, her family has confirmed in heartbreaking social media updates.

Known as 'Momma D' to her family, the former actress appeared in Blues Brothers, The 10 Commandments and Lady Sings the Blues during her Hollywood heyday.

It’s impossible to know exactly how much damage the fires have caused at this point, but it appears they could be one of the costliest natural disasters ever in the country.

No official estimates have been released, but AccuWeather, a private company that provides data on weather and its impact, said Sunday night that it believes the fires have now caused more than $250 billion damage. And the fires continue to burn.

By comparison, AccuWeather estimated the damage and economic losses caused by Hurricane Helene, which tore across six southeastern states last fall, at $225 billion to $250 billion. It could take several months for officials to develop any kind of official estimate of how much damage the fires caused.

Edison International is being investigated over a possible link to one of the wildfires currently tearing through Los Angeles.

The $25 billion firm said it discovered a downed conductor at a tower close to where the Hurst Fire broke out on Tuesday evening following an intense Santa Ana windstorm.

However, Edison said it doesn't know whether the damage happened before or after the fire, which has so far burned through almost 800 acres of land.

But that could change in the next couple days when strong Santa Ana winds are forecast to return.

Pedro Pizarro, the president and CEO of Edison International, told Good Morning America his utility has warned some 450,000 customers that their power could be shut off to help keep utility lines from sparking any additional wildfires.

Pizarro said the utility hasn’t been able to determine if its equipment and lines played any role in igniting the devastating wildfires that have destroyed more than 12,000 structures throughout the Los Angeles area.

A helicopter flies over the Palisades Fire, one of several simultaneous blazes that have ripped across Los Angeles County

The Democrat on Friday ordered state officials to determine why a 117 million-gallon reservoir was out of service and some hydrants had run dry.

LA's fire chief said city leadership failed her department by not providing enough money for firefighting. She also criticized the lack of water.

'When a firefighter comes up to a hydrant, we expect there’s going to be water,' Fire Chief Kristin Crowley.

With Love, Meghan, was set to be released on January 15, but this has now been moved to March 4.

A statement issued by the Duchess of Sussex on Sunday, three days before the series was scheduled to debut, read: 'I'm thankful to my partners at Netflix for supporting me in delaying the launch, as we focus on the needs of those impacted by the wildfires in my home state of California.'

The 52-year-old actor and filmmaker's home in Los Angeles' tony Brentwood neighborhood was visited by what appeared to be FBI agents and deputies from the LA County Sheriff's Department.

The agents were seen waiting outside the gate to his property for several minutes before leaving.

Nearly 70,000 customers were without power across California as of Sunday, more than half of them in Los Angeles County, according to PowerOutrage.com.

Sewer, water and power infrastructure across the region has been significantly damaged, officials said.

Views of the burned residential areas as wildfires continue to wreak havoc.

A shocking analysis has found that the devastating Palisades Fire in Los Angeles may have been started by the rekindling of a New Year's Eve blaze.

Evidence reviewed by The Washington Post suggests that the Palisades inferno was ignited in the same spot where fire crews put out flames a week before - and residents claim their response the second time was much slower.

Disgraced Sandy Hook truther Alex Jones made the assertion on Thursday, sharing video of fire crews carrying bags filled with water. He claimed the department needed to use the 'women's handbags' because it sent supplies over to war-torn Ukraine.

But LA Fire Department Chief Erik Scott, a public information officer, has since explained to the Wall Street Journal that the so-called handbags were actually canvas bags fire departments regularly use to put out small fires, as they are easier and faster than having to connect hoses.

Embattled Los Angeles Mayor karen bass scoffed as she brushed off questions over her reported rift with Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley.

Bass, who has come under intense criticism for her handling of the crisis, said at a Saturday press conference that she and Crowley are 'lockstep' in their efforts.

'We are lockstep in our number one mission, and that mission is to get us past this emergency right now,' she said.

Our MailOnline video team have put together eight moments of shock and devastation from the Los Angeles wildfires as firefighters continue to battle flames.

The blazes have so far claimed the lives of 24 people and forced more than 100,000 to leave their homes.

Fans are rallying around Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag after the famous couple tragically lost their home in the catastrophic LA fires.

The Hills alums were forced to flee their Pacific Palisades residence, purchased in 2017 for $2.5 million, as the inferno has claimed at least 16 lives and triggered over 100,000 evacuations.

Spencer’s been chronicling their heartbreaking journey on social media, from watching their home burn to searching through the ashes for anything that survived, and his emotional moments with Heidi have sparked an outpouring of support from fans.

Among the 68 people who were arrested is a burglar who disguised himself as a firefighter to gain access to decimated mansions caught in the path of the worst fires to ever tear through Los Angeles.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna revealed on Sunday that the fake fireman had been arrested in glitzy Malibu - which was particularly ravaged by the largest of the fires - when he was caught burglarizing the abandoned and burnt out homes along the waterfront.

The burglar dressed as a firefighter was sitting on the side of the road in the Malibu area, causing LA Country Sheriff Luna to ask him whether he was okay. 

A man has been arrested after firefighters caught him 'actively lighting fires' in Los Angeles county, it has emerged.

Ruben Montes, 29, was arrested for arson on Sunday in Irwindale, California, roughly 16 miles away from Altadena, where the deadly Eaton Fire continues to rage.

Along with crews from other states and Mexico, hundreds of inmates from California’s prison system were also helping fight the fires. Nearly 950 prison firefighters were removing timber and brush ahead of the fires to slow their spread, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The practice is controversial as the inmates are paid little for dangerous and difficult work: $10.24 each day, with more for 24-hour shifts, according to the corrections department.

Extreme dry weather conditions due to a prolonged drought, dry vegetation and powerful Santa Ana winds that reached up to 80 mph in some areas this week proved to be the 'perfect storm' for the worst fire the area has seen in more than two decades.

Los Angeles residents have put up signs threatening to shoot looters as almost 70 opportunist criminals were arrested while trying to burgle evacuated homes.

The relative calm Sunday allowed some people to return to previously evacuated areas.

Jim Orlandini, who lost his hardware store in Altadena, a hard-hit neighborhood next to Pasadena, said his home of 40 years survived.

'Tuesday night we didn’t sleep at all because we figured the house was gone,' he said Sunday as he recalled the moment the fires spread to his neighborhood.

'The whole time I was thinking, I don’t know what I’m going to find when I get back here and after 40 years, you know, you got a lot of stuff you forget about that would disappear if the house burned down. So we’re thankful that it didn’t.'

Homes that were destroyed in the Eaton Fire are left in the dark of night on January 12, 2025 in Altadena, California.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been slammed by Justine Bateman as 'disaster tourists' after they appeared volunteering during the LA wildfires.

The Hollywood actress, 58, took to X/Twitter to blast the couple after they were spotted in footage dressed in plain clothes and speaking with victims and other helpers.

From protecting P Diddy and enriching billionaires to an act of war and a deliberate political attempt to hasten high speed rail in California, internet wonks have been having a field day.

Others have claimed that it is part of a conspiracy to hasten 15-minute city plans for LA.

Some have even claimed there is a correlation between the use of smart meters and homes being destroyed, blaming lithium batteries for starting the fires.

The fires have destroyed 40,000 acres across the most affluent neighborhoods in LA, with A-list celebrity homes and restaurant hotspots among the 12,300 structures wiped out.

Firefighters scrambled Sunday to make further progress against wildfires that have destroyed thousands of homes and killed 24 people in the Los Angeles area as forecasters again warned of dangerous weather with the return of strong winds this week. At least 16 people were missing, and authorities said that number was expected to rise.

The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for severe fire conditions through Wednesday, with sustained winds of 50 mph 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.

he homeless arson suspect who was taken into custody near one of the Los Angeles wildfires is an illegal immigrant, it was revealed Sunday night.

The suspect, who has since been identified as Mexican national Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva, was caught on video walking with a yellow blowtorch before he was confronted by residents in Calabasas, west of Beverly Hills.

The Democrat used to travel the world as a Democratic member of Congress and of the House Foreign Affairs Committee before she became LA mayor in 2022.

While campaigining for mayor, she said: 'not only would I of course live here, but I also would not travel internationally — the only places I would go would be DC, Sacramento, San Francisco and New York, in relation to L.A.'

But Bass was notoriously in Ghana when the horrific wildfires broke out in her city.

The mayor left to witness the inauguration of Ghana's president even after the National Weather Service began ratcheting up warnings about the wind storm which ultimately led to the fires.

She cut short her visit and flew back to LAX on Thursday January 9.

But Sky News reporter Niall Blevins spotted her by chance at the airport and subjected her to a brutal two minute questioning.

Bass stared blankly into the middle distance when asked if she owed her constituents an apology and if she was considering her position.

Defenders of the mayor said it was right and proper for her to undertake some international travel as figurehead for one of the world's most influential cities.

Bass traveled to Paris over the summer for the Olympics closing ceremony, with LA hosting the games in 2028.

During a press conference last week, she conceded there would be a post mortem about what went wrong in the city's response once the crisis was under control.

Meanwhile a Change.org petition demanidng her resignation has colected over 100,000 signatures.