Summary

New wildfire breaks out in Ventura County

Live Reporting

Edited by Rorey Bosotti and Neha Gohil

  1. Good news as newest fire stopped from advancing

    A fire truck surrounded by flames and an orange sky@VCFD_PIO

    Ventura County Fire Department shared clips of the fire on their X account

    A new fire, known as the Auto Fire, broke out in Los Angeles on Monday evening.

    The brush fire was first reported at 19:45 (03:45) local time in Ventura County, north-west of the city.

    It was small, but grew to nearly 56 acres in the last few hours and officials says it was not contained at all.

    But at shortly after midnight (08:00 GMT), Ventura County Fire Department posted on X: "Forward progress on the Auto fire has been stopped. The fire has been mapped at 55.7 acres with 0% containment."

    Firefighters remain on scene mopping up hotspots and working to increase containment, they add.

    According to fire experts, containing a fire is different to stopping it progressing forward. When a fire is contained, it means it is surrounded by a lack of fuel to keep it from spreading. Stopping forward progress means it has stopped moving forwards in a certain direction.

  2. 'We now refer to it as a fire year', says fire official

    With winds predicted to increase in LA overnight and throughout the day, a Californian fire service official says they're on standby for fires most likely in the area between Ventura Valley and San Diego.

    Cal Fire spokesperson David Acuna also tells CNN the threat posed by wildfires is unlikely to disappear anytime soon.

    Asked what the risk is for the coming weeks and months, he says the fire service has now abandoned the term "fire season", meaning the time of year when wildfires are most likely. "We now refer to it as fire year," he says.

  3. 'We're watching the next 48 hours... it's seat of your pants stuff'

    Andree Massiah
    Live reporter

    Firefighters in someone's back garden stand next to garden furniture, as smoke rises above the bushes behind themJames Langridge

    "I hosed down the yards and the roofs of houses and filled up pieces of tin foil in air vents to repel any embers that came," says James. "I was exhausted at the end of it."

    A British man who lives in Los Angeles says fires got to within 80ft (24m) of his neighbourhood in Brentwood, where he resides with his American wife and two children.

    "It was seat of the pants stuff, it would be quiet one minute and then fires would appear out of nowhere," says James Langridge, who was born in Surrey and raised in Sussex.

    He and his family have now been displaced for a week - but he returned home to rescue his two dogs and two cats and gather some belongings, and also to help firefighters.

    He adds that he hopes to return home by the end of the week "but we’re watching the next 48 hours for the direction of the winds".

  4. Artist devastated as beloved piano and 50 paintings burnt to ground

    Gabriela Pomeroy
    Live reporter

    Sam Glaser at the ruins where his parents house once stoodSam Glaser

    Sam Glaser at the site of his parents' house: "I wanted to find something, but everything was incinerated."

    Harriet Glaser, 85, played the piano every day at her home in Pacific Palisades - now her piano has been incinerated, along with everything else in her home.

    Her son Sam tells me the piano was a central feature in their lives. "The piano was a gathering place. My grandmother, my mother, myself, and my daughter are all classically trained pianists... I grew up with a houseful of regular guests, with weekly jam sessions, and we would gather round the piano on occasions like 4 July."

    His father played the trumpet and French horn, which were also lost.

    Harriet was also an artist who painted watercolours and oil paintings. She had 50 paintings in the house, which were destroyed in the fire, Sam says. When she evacuated her home, she left with clothes for a few nights and didn't think to take anything else with her.

    But Sam says that now his mother's paintings are gone "she wants to paint again".

    Glaser family pianoSam Glaser

    The family's two pianos were destroyed in the fire

  5. Watch: Looters enter home and police arrest arson suspect

    LA's police forces continue to deal with reports of looting and arson, and on Monday nine people were arrested for looting, as well as one person for arson at a local park.

    Los Angeles Police Department shared footage showing looting inside one home, as well as the arson suspect being arrested. They are warning that maximum sentences will be handed out to anyone convicted.

    Watch: LA County District Attorney releases footage of LA looters and arson suspect arrest

  6. Have you been impacted by the wildfires? Share your story with us

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  7. Four 'currently active incidents', California fire department says

    A neighbourhood destroyed by fire in PalisadesEPA

    The fire that consumed much of Palisades is yet to be fully contained

    As of this morning there are four “active incidents” across the city of LA, according to CAL Fire - the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection:

    • The Palisades Fire - the first and largest to have struck LA - is at only 14% containment (the percentage of the fire's perimeter which firefighters are confident it won't spread further). CAL Fire says it has consumed 23,713 acres of land so far
    • The other large wildfire site, called Eaton Fire slightly further east, is at 33% containment. This has reportedly consumed just over 14,000 acres
    • One other smaller fire, the Hurst Fire, covering 799 acres is nearly fully contained, at 97%
    • And, CAL Fire says that the much smaller Auto Fire, which has consumed five acres to the west of Palisades is not yet contained at all

    We’ll continue to bring you updates on this, as a red flag warning remains across much of Southern California, and weather forecasters predict that high winds are set to increase the spread of flames across the city.

  8. Latest photos from LA as fire threat still critical

    It's coming up to 23:00 in the Los Angeles area - and in recent hours more than 8,500 firefighters have been working to attack the fires ahead of dangerous weather conditions coming overnight.

    Here are some of the latest photos from the region:

    A man in a puffer jacket positions a woman's arms as she points a gun and looks aheadEPA

    Mike Leroy, left, shows neighbour Maggie Mollett how to hold a gun in Altadena, as some people stay behind despite evacuation notices to protect their and their neighbours' homes from fire damage and looters

    Hot pink gas coming out the bottom of a plane as it flies over a hillGetty Images

    Also near Altadena, a plane drops pink fire retardant during the Eaton Fire, which fire agencies say is an invaluable tool

    Firefighters from Mexico hike to their destination to cut a containment line in the Tarzana area during the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles,Reuters

    Firefighters from Mexico head to contain a fire in the Tarzana area during the Palisades Fire - the country's firefighters have been helping their American counterparts

  9. Winds could be strong enough to rapidly spread fires

    Sarah Keith-Lucas
    BBC Weather presenter

    Widespread critical fire weather conditions are expected across the fire-hit areas in California, with strong Santa Ana winds peaking Tuesday through to the middle of Wednesday.

    Strong Santa Anna winds will blow from the north-east, at sustained speeds of 30 to 40mph, with gusts between 55 and 75mph likely.

    The winds will bring very dry air, with humidity levels of only 10% or less.

    Compared to last week, the winds are weaker, but still strong, with more of a focus towards Ventura County.

    The winds will be strong enough to allow fires to spread rapidly and so PDS (particularly dangerous situation) red flag warnings have once again been issued for Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

    The rare combination of extremely low humidity and very strong winds will support extremely critical fire-weather conditions much of Tuesday.

    The 'particularly dangerous situation' warning from the weather service that urges people to "take immediate action"National Weather Service

  10. LA braces for near-hurricane force winds

    Adam Goldsmith
    Live reporter

    Firefighters in LAGetty Images

    LA is bracing for further destruction as forecasts suggest high winds could fuel wildfire flames once more today.

    Two massive fires continue to burn across the city. The Palisades Fire, the largest, has burned more than 23,000 acres and was only 14% contained as of last night.

    At least 24 people have died in the fires and 23 others are missing in the Eaton and Palisades fire zones.

    The city’s mayor Karen Bass says "urgent preparations" are being made in advance of the near-hurricane force winds, which are expected to arrive today and could bring "explosive fire growth".

    In the meantime, LA police forces are dealing with cases of looting and arson - authorities yesterday announced that nine people had been arrested for the former as empty and fire-damaged properties remain vulnerable.

    Ahead of LA waking up to another day of devastation, we’ll keep you updated with the impact of the predicted Santa Ana winds on the city and its inhabitants. Stick with us.