LA fires burn area twice the size of Manhattan – worst the city has seen in recent history

California has seen deadly blazes over the years – Camp fire decimated Paradise town in 2018 and Tubbs fire burned 36,810 acres in 2017

The destruction caused by the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles is the worst the city has seen in recent history.

The wildfires, which began on 7 January, have torched the US’s second largest city, leaving at least 11 dead and over 10,000 structures destroyed. Roughly 150,000 Los Angeles county residents remain under evacuation orders.

Palisades, the first and largest fire, is spreading west of Los Angeles. Burning across 21,317 acres, the fire had only been 8% contained as of Friday afternoon, meaning firefighters have created control lines – usually wide trenches – around 8% of it. Officials say initial estimates indicate it has destroyed at least 5,300 structures between the Santa Monica Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Firefighters estimate it’s the third-most destructive wildfire in California’s history.

The Eaton fire, burning across Pasadena and Altadena areas in the north-east has blazed nearly 14,000 acres and has only been 3% contained. It has so far destroyed 5,000 structures, ranking it as the fourth most destructive wildfire in California’s history.

The other fires currently burning across Los Angeles include Kenneth, Hurst and Lidia. Kenneth, a brush fire which emerged in the Woodlands Hills area on Thursday, has burned across 1,000 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. As of Friday morning, it has been 35% contained. Meanwhile, the Hurst fire, which is burning across 771 acres across the northernmost suburb of Los Angeles, has been 37% contained as of Friday morning. Over in Antelope Valley, the Lidia fire has burned across 395 acres and is 75% contained as of Friday morning.

Continue reading...

Megan Thee Stallion granted restraining order against rapper Tory Lanez

Grammy-winning musician alleged the imprisoned rapper is harassing her through surrogates after he shot her in 2020

Megan Thee Stallion has been granted a restraining order from the imprisoned rapper Tory Lanez until early 2030.

The Los Angeles superior court judge Richard Bloom has granted Megan’s request for a protective order after the hip-hop star alleged that Lanez was harassing her from prison through surrogates as he serves a 10-year sentence for shooting her in the feet.

Continue reading...

‘Essential’: nearly 400 incarcerated firefighters deployed as LA battles wildfires

The firefighters earn $5.80-$10.24 per day plus $1 an hour when responding to active emergencies, according to CDCR

Hundreds of incarcerated firefighters are helping battle the destructive blazes that are rapidly spreading across southern California as a powerful windstorm devastates the region.

The California department of corrections and rehabilitation (CDCR) said on Wednesday that it had deployed 395 imprisoned firefighters across 29 crews while the county fights multiple out-of-control blazes fueled by extreme winds and dry conditions. The incarcerated crews are embedded with the California department of forestry and fire protection (Cal Fire) and its nearly 2,000 firefighters, who have been stretched thin from several simultaneous emergencies.

Continue reading...

Billy Crystal, Cary Elwes and Eugene Levy among celebrities to lose homes in California fires

Crystal ‘heartbroken’ after losing family home of 46 years in historic fires that have killed five and destroyed more than 1,100 buildings

Billy Crystal, Paris Hilton and Eugene Levy are among celebrities who have lost their homes in the wildfires tearing through several neighbourhoods of Los Angeles, which have killed at least five people and destroyed more than 1,100 buildings so far.

Six wildfires were raging across Los Angeles county. The affluent Pacific Palisades, where many famous Hollywood names live, has been devastated since the fires began on Tuesday. On Wednesday night, another fire broke out in Runyon Canyon in the Hollywood Hills, with the Los Angeles fire department ordering an immediate evacuation of parts of the neighbourhood.

Continue reading...

Los Angeles wildfires force thousands to flee as blazes spread out of control

Over 30,000 ordered to evacuate as flames rip through coastal Pacific Palisades and other inland fires spread fast

Residents of Los Angeles have fled deadly wildfires engulfing the suburbs of the west coast megalopolis, as firefighters struggled to contain the flames overnight amid fears they would worsen on Wednesday morning.

California officials ordered more than 30,000 people to evacuate their homes as hillside blazes ripped through the coastal Pacific Palisades neighbourhood. People escaped by car and on foot.

Continue reading...

Fire reaches Getty Villa museum grounds in California, but structures not burned

Fueled by major windstorm, Pacific Palisades fire touches museum site but officials say collection safe

A rapidly spreading wildfire in southern California reached the grounds of the Getty Villa museum north of Santa Monica on Tuesday, but officials said no structures had burned and the collection was safe.

The Pacific Palisades fire, fueled by a major windstorm and prompting mass evacuations in Los Angeles county, burned some trees and vegetation on site at the Getty Villa, but museum leaders said the galleries and archives were protected.

Continue reading...

Biden designates two new national monuments after advocacy from tribes

Chuckwalla and Sáttítla monuments in California will be safeguarded against extraction and energy development

Joe Biden will designate two new national monuments in California in his last days in office, after tribes and environment groups asked him to take urgent action.

The designation of the Chuckwalla monument in southern California and the Sáttítla monument in the far north of the state will place 840,000 acres (339,935 hectares) of land under protection, shielding it from extraction and energy development.

Continue reading...

Strongest winds in over a decade could bring fire risk to southern California

Windstorm will affect Los Angeles and Ventura counties beginning Tuesday afternoon and peak early Wednesday

The strongest winds in more than a decade could hit southern California on Tuesday, potentially causing structural damage and bringing extreme fire risk to areas that haven’t seen substantial rain in months.

Beginning Tuesday afternoon, the windstorm will affect Los Angeles and Ventura counties and peak in the early hours of Wednesday, when gusts could reach 80mph (129km/h), the National Weather Service (NWS) said Monday. Isolated gusts could top 100 mph in mountains and foothills.

Continue reading...

Soul singer Brenton Wood, behind the 1967 hit Oogum Boogum Song, dies aged 83

Born Alfred Jesse Smith, his smash title has repeatedly been used in film and television shows

Soul singer Brenton Wood has died at the age of 83, TMZ and Variety reported. Wood’s manager Manny Gallegos confirmed the news.

Woods, born Alfred Jesse Smith, is best known for his 1967 hit The Oogum Boogum Song which has repeatedly been used across film, television and in commercial campaigns. He died at his home in Moreno Valley, 63 miles east of Los Angeles, his manager Manny Gallegos told the publications.

Continue reading...

California: 11 people injured after small plane crashes and fire breaks out

Officials say police and fire trucks arrived on scene after aircraft crashed into commercial building in Fullerton

Eleven people were injured when a small plane collided into the rooftop of a commercial building in southern California on Thursday, police said.

Police received a report at 2.09pm about the crash in the Orange county city of Fullerton, said Kristy Wells, a Fullerton police spokesperson.

Continue reading...

All I want for Christmas is $1.22bn: Mega Millions ticket matches all six numbers

Circle K in Cottonwood, California, where ticket was sold celebrates $1m bonus as winner remains unknown

The new year will ring in brightly for a lucky Mega Millions winner in California: after three months of the top lottery prize rolling over, a ticket worth $1.22bn matched all six numbers in Friday night’s drawing, according to the lottery’s website.

The winning ticket was sold at the Circle K in Cottonwood, a rural town of about 6,000 people roughly 145 miles (233km) north of Sacramento just off Interstate 5 in Shasta county. The winning numbers, including the Mega, were 3, 7, 37, 49, 55 and 6.

Continue reading...

Weather tracker: Storm brings well over a metre of snow to peaks in Alps

Several days of snow brought avalanche risk at Christmas, as wintry weather also caused four deaths in India

A snowstorm developed across the Alps on Saturday 21 December due to a low-pressure system situated over the Adriatic Sea. This depression allowed relatively warm and moist air to push into the Alps, condensing and falling as snow as it met the much colder alpine air mass. Snowfall continued for several days, with well over 1 metre of snow on some peaks and significant snowfall across many ski villages. Consequently, there was a significant avalanche risk over the Christmas period.

Ski resorts in Bulgaria also experienced significant snow starting on Christmas Day, which caused disruption in the mountainous west, where ski resorts had to temporarily shut down due to road closures. Towns such as Troyan, Samokov and Teteven were particularly badly affected with snowdrifts and power failures.

Continue reading...

California residents urged to avoid ocean as high surf pounds coastline

At least one dead and three missing amid storm that has split wharf, wrecked boat and piled up debris

California residents are being warned to stay off wharves, piers and other waterside structures as 20-30ft waves are expected to batter the northern Pacific coast for the rest of the week.

The National Weather Service advisory comes after a 150ft section of the wharf in Santa Cruz collapsed amid high waves on Monday, and storm debris was blamed for the death of a Santa Cruz county man on a beach in Watsonville.

Continue reading...

A Silicon Valley nudist resort is on sale for $30m – but will its new owner ‘go textile’?

Members are in limbo as Lupin Lodge is on the market after nearly 90 years – with next buyer likely to require clothes

After nearly 90 years as a historic nudist resort, California’s Lupin Lodge is up for sale – and its next owners are likely to require guests to wear clothes.

The 112-acre Silicon Valley property became a retreat for members of the “naturist” movement in 1935. Today, its hundreds of members enjoy the resort’s clothing-optional hiking trails, pickleball court and its nude-only community pool. (Yes: the members really do hike naked.)

Continue reading...

California school shooting leaves two students injured and suspect dead

Authorities say hospitalized students are five and six, and man on scene was found dead of self-inflicted gunshot

Two students were injured in a school shooting in northern California, officials said on Wednesday afternoon, and the suspected shooter is dead. The injured students are five and six years old, according to KCRA, Sacramento’s NBC affiliate station. The students are being treated for the injuries, Butte county sheriff, Kory Honea told reporters on Wednesday.

The shooting took place at the Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists in Oroville, a city of 20,000 people in the state’s far north. Honea told media that around 1pm his office began receiving calls from the school about an individual on campus firing shots at students. Deputies responded immediately, Honea said, and found a man on scene dead of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot.

Continue reading...

California Democrat Adam Gray unseats Republican as last House race decided

Adam Gray wins by fewer than 200 votes, leaving Democrats with 215 House seats and Republicans 220 this election cycle

Democrat Adam Gray captured California’s 13th congressional district on Tuesday, unseating Republican John Duarte in the final US House contest to be decided in the 2024 elections.

Gray’s win in the farm belt seat that cuts through five counties means Republicans won 220 House seats this election cycle, with Democrats holding 215 seats.

Continue reading...

Missing Hawaii woman seen crossing into Mexico, police say

Hannah Kobayashi disappeared voluntarily as she sought to ‘step away from modern connectivity’, LA police say

A Hawaii woman who vanished after landing in Los Angeles three weeks ago disappeared voluntarily as she sought to “step away from modern connectivity” and was last seen crossing into Mexico, police said at a news conference.

Hannah Kobayashi, 30, appeared unharmed as she walked alone with her luggage into a tunnel at the San Ysidro crossing about 125 miles (201km) south-east of Los Angeles around noon on 12 November the day after her family reported her missing, LA police said Monday. Authorities made the discovery after reviewing surveillance video from the US Customs and Border Protection late on Sunday.

Continue reading...

New powder that captures carbon could be ‘quantum leap’ for industry

A ‘covalent organic framework’ can be used to capture carbon to store it or convert it for industrial use

An innocuous yellow powder, created in a lab, could be a new way to combat the climate crisis by absorbing carbon from the air.

Just half a pound of the stuff may remove as much carbon dioxide as a tree can, according to early tests. Once the carbon is absorbed by the powder, it can be released into safe storage or be used in industrial processes, like carbonizing drinks.

Continue reading...

Democrat Derek Tran ousts Republican rival in key California House seat

Son of Vietnamese refugees beats Michelle Steel in seat drawn to give Asian Americans stronger voice in capital

Democrat Derek Tran ousted Republican Michelle Steel in a southern California House district Wednesday that was specifically drawn to give Asian Americans a stronger voice on Capitol Hill.

Steel said in a statement: “Like all journeys, this one is ending for a new one to begin.” When she captured the seat in 2020, Steel joined Washington state Democrat Marilyn Strickland and California Republican Young Kim as the first Korean American women elected to Congress.

Continue reading...

Dog who fell 50ft down abandoned mine shaft rescued by California firefighters

Firefighter was lowered into shaft and dog, who was ‘a good sport’, was ‘secured and raised out’, authorities said

Firefighters fetched a dog from an abandoned mine shaft in northern California after it fell 50ft.

Firefighters were called around 3.40am last Thursday to a mine located in El Dorado county, roughly 68 miles east of Sacramento.

Continue reading...