Progress is being made with some of the wildfires.
At least five people are believed to be dead -- with the LA County sheriff saying he expects that number to rise -- as a series of devastating fires grow uncontained 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 Los Angeles area. The largest, the Palisades Fire, in Pacific Palisades, has scorched over 17,000 acres, destroyed thousands of structures and remains zero percent contained. The Eaton Fire, in Altadena, now stands at more than 10,000 acres and zero percent contained. More than 180,000 people have been ordered to evacuate as the infernos spread.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday approved a federal major disaster declaration for Los Angeles County.
A fifth fire is now active in Los Angeles County.
The Lidia Fire, which started Wednesday afternoon, has grown to 50 acres in Acton and has spread to the Angeles National Forest with 0% containment, officials said.
Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman had a message for those considering taking "criminal advantage" of the devastating wildfire event through looting or scams.
"If you think for a moment that you can take advantage of this right now or over the next weeks, months or years, you are wrong," Hochman told ABC Los Angeles station KABC on Wednesday. "If you go ahead and you want to loot, if you want to steal, if you want to engage in scams on vulnerable people who have just lost their house and their businesses, we're going to arrest you, we're going to prosecute you and you will absolutely be punished."
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department already arrested two individuals for looting Wednesday morning, the district attorney said.
"Again, the thought that they would want to take advantage of people in their most vulnerable situation when they've just lost a house or business, when they're literally evacuating for their lives, is despicable," Hochman told the station.
More than 1.5 million customers are without power in California, including over 956,000 in Los Angeles County.
UCLA Hospitals said it treated and released 21 people suffering from fire-related injuries and has admitted one victim who is in critical condition.
The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services said it’s treating patients suffering from smoke inhalation, but did not confirm how many.
