Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna says that those who have been evacuated should not worry about whether the property they left behind is safe.

"Do not make this worse than it already is," he says.

He offers another stern warning to looters: "Everyone around me is hungry," he says of police officers and other officials in the city. "When we catch people, we mean business."

Luna reminds people that an evening curfew remains in place in certain areas from 18:00 to 06:00 local time.

"If you do not have any legitimate business in these areas, stay out," he says, warning that patrolling officers are stopping people and asking questions.

Alan Hamilton, the chief of detectives for the LA Police Department, says that one of the cases that police are investigating involves people who pretended to be firefighters and who were possibly engaged in looting.

He says officers are still looking into that case and expect to file charges soon.

“We are aware that there are other crimes that have occurred,” he says. “We are aware of some of the individuals who are involved.”

“We will be announcing additional arrests in the very near future,” he says, adding that people in Los Angeles can expect to see a visible police presence, but officers will also be working undercover and online.

Blake Chow, the assistant chief of the Los Angeles Police Department's office of special operations, is now speaking to reporters.

He offers a stern warning to those taking advantage of evacuation orders and looting homes.

"You're not going to get away with it," Chow says.

He then offers a message to the people of LA, saying: "This team has your back."

Chow reassures residents that patrol cars are driving around evacuated areas to monitor properties and ensure that they are protected from potential break-ins.

The arson charge has been filed against a man who allegedly started a fire in Pioneer Park in the nearby city of Azusa, Hochman says.

He shows a video of a man being led away by police next to a small fire.

The man faces a sentence of up to nine years in prison if convicted and will appear at a court hearing today.

“This shows the effectiveness of law enforcement,” Hochman says, adding that authorities are also investigating price gouging and internet scams. “It’s a matter of when, not if you’ll be caught.”

In another set of charges announced by District Attorney Hochman, four individuals are accused of breaking into a home in Altadena and stealing "a variety of different personal property" from its owners.

Hochman says that among the things stolen was an Emmy Award of the resident who lived there.

"Police worked incredibly quickly in that situation," he says, adding that the suspects were apprehended and most of the allegedly stolen property was recovered.

In another case, District Attorney Hochman says two people entered two different houses in Altadena on Wednesday night.

They've been charged with two counts of first-degree burglary and face maximum sentences of six years on each charge, the district attorney says.

District Attorney Hochman is now naming specific suspects who have been charged.

The first set of charges are against three individuals, whom he names. He alleges that two of them were caught committing "first-degree residential burglary and looting" in a house on Mandeville Canyon during mandatory evacuations.

He adds that they allegedly stole over $200,000 (£163,000) from the residence, before showing footage of the alleged suspects entering the home, which he says was caught on a surveillance camera inside the home.

One of the suspects has two prior felonies on their criminal record, Hochman notes, adding that, if found guilty, that individual could face life behind bars.

Image source, US Pool

Hochman says ten people have been charged with crimes - nine with looting and one with arson.

The arson isn't related to the starting of one of the major fires but occurred in the nearby city of Azusa, he says.

Los Angeles County District Attorney, Nathan Hochman, is now providing an update on arrests made for looting and possible arson since the fires in southern California broke out.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest.

Image source, Getty Images

Former United States Olympic swimmer Gary Hall Jr will receive a new set of medals after his were destroyed in the Los Angeles wildfires, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has confirmed.

Three-time Olympian Hall had to evacuate from his home in Pacific Palisades last week as fire swept through the neighbourhood.

He said he fled taking only his dog, the insulin he uses to treat his diabetes, a painting of his grandfather, and a religious artifact.

The 50-year-old was unable to return to the house to get the five gold, three silver and two bronze medals he won at Olympic Games from 1996-2004.

Image source, Fardad Khayami

Fardad Khayami, a 24-year-old restaurant owner in Pacific Palisades, has provided 780 meals to people in Los Angeles since Wednesday.

He set up a food facility in Westwood, and has been preparing the meals with the help of his staff and younger brother - who is the restaurant's pastry chef.

Fardad, who came to LA from London, tells Newsday: "If you look, outside, it seems to offer a normal city where we are. But if you drive five mins to the west, it seems like a different world."

At the time the fires broke out, Fardad says he didn’t know it would reach this extent.

But he says that, from tomorrow morning, they are going to be delivering 500 meals “per day for as long as they need them".

Nadine Yousif
North America reporter

Vivid images have emerged of air tankers dropping bright red and pink powder on Los Angeles suburbs.

The eye-catching substance - flame retardant - is a product called Phos-Chek, which is sold by a company called Perimeter.

It has been used to fight blazes in the US since 1963, and is the most-used fire retardant in the world, according to a 2022 report in the Associated Press.

Image source, Reuters

The exact formula of Phos-Chek is not public knowledge but the company has said in previous filings that the product is 80% water, 14% fertilizer-type salts, 6% colouring agents and corrosion inhibitors.

As for its colour, the company says it is "a visual aid for pilots and firefighters alike". After a few days of exposure to sunlight, the colour fades to earth tones, it says.

According to the US Forest Service, retardants "slow the rate of spread by cooling and coating fuels, depleting the fire of oxygen, and slowing the rate of fuel combustion as the retardant's inorganic salts change how fuels burn".

Image source, EPA

The Universal Music Group says it has cancelled all Grammy-related events and will redirect resources that would've been used "to assist those affected by the wildfires".

The main event, the Grammy Awards, will go ahead on 2 February. But events such as the artist showcase and the after party have been cancelled.

“LA is home to so many of us,” the group says in a statement posted on social media.

“We are committed to helping and supporting the music community, our artists, our teams and the people of Los Angeles get through this horrific episode."

A law firm has filed a complaint against Southern California Edison Company (SCE) claiming there is "evidence" the Eaton Fire was ignited because of negligence.

A statement from law firm Bridgford, Gleason & Artinian says it believes the Eaton Fire was ignited because of SCE’s "failure to de-energize its overhead wires which traverse Eaton Canyon - despite a red flag PDS wind warning issued by the national weather service the day before the ignition of the fire".

It bases its claim on its own investigation, discussions with various consultants, the public statements of SCE, and video evidence of the fire’s origin.

The origins of the wildfires are currently under investigation.

On Friday, SCE said LA fire authorities were investigating whether its infrastructure was involved in the ignition of the Hurst Fire.

Image source, EPA

Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, says there should be conditions on the aid given to California, saying "state and local leaders were derelict in their duty in many respects".

"So that's something that has to be factored in. I think there should probably be conditions on that aid," Reuters news agency quotes Johnson.

"That's my personal view. We'll see what the consensus is," Johnson adds.

Lawmakers are set to meet on Tuesday morning to discuss disaster aid for California, Reuters reports.

A woman has told the BBC her son died in the LA fires, after she was forced to leave him to get help from the emergency services.

Shelley Sykes' 32-year-old son Rory, a former child actor with cerebral palsy, chose not to leave their home after they received an evacuation order.

She says that by the time she returned with firefighters, it was too late.

"Three cottages within a hour had burnt top to bottom. I just cant believe my baby’s not going to be here."

Regan Morris
Reporting from Los Angeles

Although the Palisades Fire is still only 14% contained, there are no plumes of smoke over Malibu and the Palisades and for the first time this week.

Blue skies and sunshine can be seen above the wreckage and ruins of the storied Pacific Coast Highway.

National Guard troops are guarding the surviving homes and shops in the Palisades from looters.

They’re also building a camp by setting up tents in a parking lot right on the Pacific Ocean, to have a home base in the heart of the destruction.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced he's doubling the number of National Guard personnel supporting LA responders to 1,680 service members.

Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter

Image source, Michael Storc

I’ve been talking to Michael Storc about the difficult search for rented accommodation in Los Angeles now that his family’s home in Altadena has burned down.

He says they are looking for place to live and "what’s available is not nice at all and rents have gone up a lot.

"I told my teenage daughter we had to accept we would live somewhere not very nice."

He adds: "I grew up a poor kid who was renting, so going back to renting is a bit gutting."

Storc, a house designer, is nostalgic about the Altadena neighbourhood where his house once stood, calling it a "magical place full of artists and creatives, and very diverse racially and economically, and people knew their neighbours".

He says they wonder if they would ever be able to rebuild on the land where their home once stood. "We don’t know if it will ever be safe," he says.

Image source, Michael Storc

Max Matza
Reporting from Los Angeles

There is a "tragic" misperception that all of the victims of the Palisades fire are wealthy, according to a spokesman for City Councilwoman Traci Parks, who represents the Pacific Palisades region.

Pete Brown says that many victims purchased their homes 50 years ago, possibly for prices of around $25,000, he tells the BBC.

These elderly homeowners are now left with nothing. "Their wealth was in that home," he says.

The average price of the homes burned down there are much higher than the ones razed in the other deadly LA blaze - the Eaton fire - which impacted Altadena around 30 miles away.

Two major US banks are preparing to help people affected by the wildfires by easing the payment terms on their mortgages, reports say.

The Reuters news agency says JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America will offer mortgage forbearance for their customers impacted.

Forbearance permits those with mortgages to temporarily pause paying back their loan, or pay smaller increments.

Borrowers often turn to banks for such aid to help ease the cost of rebuilding.

But the impact on bank profit margins from unpaid loans can also prompt them to work less in markets that are at risk of natural disasters.

Laurent Birade, a bank expert from US ratings agency Moody's, told Retuers that the wildfires "underscore the urgent need for financial institutions to prioritise climate risk management".