At least 24 die as wildfires blaze around Los Angeles
Firefighters in Los Angeles on Monday morning had only contained a fraction of the largest fires burning around the city, according to Cal Fire. The Palisades Fire was only 13% contained and the Eaton Fire was 27% contained Monday morning after spreading over more than 37,000 acres combined.
Smaller fires also raged. A new fire called the Kenneth Fire broke out Thursday afternoon just north of the Palisades Fire and quickly grew to cover nearly 1,000 acres. The blaze was 35% contained Friday morning. Firefighters on Friday reported that two other small fires, the Hurst Fire and the Lidia Fire, were 37% and 75% contained, respectively. A group of nearly 800 prisoners from the Conservation Camp Program of the California Department of Corrections have joined firefighters to battle the blazes.
How much destruction have the fires caused? As of Monday morning, at least 24 people have died in the fires, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner. Officials have not named the victims pending identification of the bodies and notification of next of kin, and the death toll is expected to grow as authorities gain access to the hardest hit areas. The fires destroyed at least 10,000 structures last week as authorities ordered tens of thousands of people to evacuate.
Dig deeper: Read our earlier coverage about the fires raging in southern California.
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