Thousands of firefighters are battling the sprawling wildfires across LA.
Nearly a dozen people are believed to be dead -- with the Los Angeles County sheriff saying he expects that number to rise -- as devastating fires spread across Southern California amid dry and windy conditions, leaving officials scrambling to contain the historic destruction.
Thousands of firefighters are battling at least five sprawling wildfires spread around the LA area. The largest, the Palisades Fire, in Pacific Palisades, has scorched over 21,000 acres, destroyed thousands of structures and is 8% contained. The Eaton Fire, in Altadena, now stands at more than 13,000 acres and is 3% contained. More than 100,000 people are under evacuation orders.
The Palisades Fire has reached 21,596 acres with 11% containment, currently the biggest fire in California. Winds are expected to gradually increase going into the evening on Saturday.
The Eaton Fire has also reached 14,117 acres and is currently at 15% containment.
The Kenneth Fire currently stands at 1,052 acres with 80% containment.
A new evacuation order has been issued for the Palisades Fire.
The new order extends from the Encino Reservoir in the north to Sunset Boulevard in the south and from the Mandeville Canyon in the west to the busy 405 freeway to the east.
Previously, those areas were under an evacuation warning, which means residents are urged to be prepared to evacuate if necessary.
The LA Clippers game Saturday against the Charlotte Hornets at Intuit Dome has been postponed due to the wildfires in Los Angeles.
Next week's Clippers' games at Intuit Dome against the Miami Heat on Jan. 13 and against the Brooklyn Nets on Jan. 15 will continue as scheduled, the venue said.
LA County officials said they are getting to the bottom of why an evacuation order erroneously went to millions of people on Thursday during the outbreak of a new, rapidly spreading fire.
The evacuation alert Thursday was meant for residents of the West Hills area near the Kenneth Fire -- but instead, the alert went to nearly 10 million residents across the county.
The county said its Emergency Operations Center sent an accurate, targeted alert about 4 p.m. local time on Thursday, but that it was erroneously distributed "far outside the intended geographic area" once it left the county's center. The company that operates the software for the county's emergency alert messages is now conducting testing and has also added software safeguards, the county said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Communications Commission -- along with the county -- are also investigating why "echoes" of the original faulty alert "continued to land on phones across LA County, alarming residents already facing the horrifying effects of destructive wildfires that are still burning."
The county called the error a "serious breach of public trust" and said, for now, the state's Office of Emergency Services would be handling alerts to the public.
