Starting from January 7, large-scale wildfires have engulfed the coastal areas of Los Angeles, including elite neighborhoods and cities where many celebrities reside. Online updates from the scene are being covered by BBC, NBC, CNN, and other outlets.
Due to unfavorable weather conditions—dry, hurricane-force winds and a prolonged lack of precipitation—the fire is spreading rapidly. According to county officials, preliminary reports indicate that 10 people have died as a result of the fires. However, Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna stated that the death toll may rise further.
“It looks like an atomic bomb was dropped on these areas. I’m not expecting good news, and we are not counting on any encouraging numbers,” Luna said at a press conference.
AccuWeather estimates the damage and economic losses at $135–150 billion, which could lead to a significant increase in home insurance prices and a prolonged recovery for the affected areas. For comparison, Uzbekistan's GDP in 2023 was $101.6 billion.
The fires have destroyed over 10,000 buildings, including residential homes, five churches, a synagogue, seven schools, two libraries, and several shops, bars, and restaurants. Nearly 180,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes. Police have already arrested 20 individuals for looting and theft in the evacuated areas.
Among the victims are well-known residents of the city, including U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, Hunter Biden, son of the current president, as well as actors Anthony Hopkins, Mandy Moore, and Paris Hilton, whose homes have been completely destroyed by the fire.
Biden declared a major disaster and promised to cover 100% of the costs for relief efforts within 180 days, including debris removal, temporary shelters, and payment for rescue workers. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced the start of recovery efforts.
Firefighters from six U.S. states and Canada are participating in extinguishing the fire, but rescue operations are complicated by strong Santa Ana winds. One of the largest firefighting planes provided by Canada was damaged after colliding with a drone.
However, firefighting efforts are hindered by a lack of water. In some areas, hydrants have run dry, and the city’s reservoirs are not equipped to handle such large-scale fires, experts report.
President-elect Donald Trump criticized California Governor Gavin Newsom for the “lack of water” to combat the fires in Los Angeles. He claimed that Newsom refused to sign a “water restoration declaration” that would allegedly allow millions of gallons of water to be redirected from northern regions to the south, where the fires are raging.
However, the governor's representatives denied these claims, stating that such a document does not exist. Experts also noted that California has sufficient water supplies, and the key issue is the hurricane-force Santa Ana winds that facilitate the rapid spread of fire.
The son of the president-elect, Donald Trump Jr., criticized firefighters for having sent some of their equipment to Ukraine in 2022. “Oh, of course, the Los Angeles Fire Department donated a bunch of their supplies to Ukraine,” he said.
https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1877039101813149928
Billionaire Elon Musk supported this view by reposting a related message on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
The Danish investment bank Saxo Bank, in its “shocking predictions” for 2025, suggested that a devastating storm in the U.S. could lead to the bankruptcy of a major insurance company that would struggle to meet its financial obligations for the first time. Furthermore, the intensity of natural disasters may increase due to climate change.
Earlier, Spot reported that Biden blocked a $14 billion deal for the acquisition of US Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel.