California fires deaths rise as L.A. braces for stronger winds

A map that is updated in real-time by CBS News data team documents the spread of Los Angeles wildfires. Two massive fires continue to burn at opposite ends of Los Angeles County.

Los Angeles and the surrounding areas of Southern California should prepare for another round of heavy winds beginning Monday. Last week, intense gusts fueled wildfires that are still burning thousands of acres.

Olga Ospina, CBS News Los Angeles’ meteorologist, called the fire weather outlooks “critical” or “extreme”. The winds are expected to increase in the late morning hours and spread throughout the afternoon. Ospina said that the situation will intensify by midday. She noted that certain areas could see wind gusts up to 50 mph and 40 mph, with low humidity.

Through Wednesday evening, red flag warnings will be in effect for sections of Southern California’s inland, including the San Bernardino Mountains, Orange County and parts of San Bernardino County. Outside of the red flag warning zones, a mix of high-wind warnings and wind advisories was in effect.

The weather is expected to improve by the end of the week.

A mother from Australia has described how she tried to save her son, who is blind, from the wildfires in Los Angeles area but was unsuccessful as water supplies were running out.

Shelley Sykes is a TV production entrepreneur who told Australian media about her desperate struggle to save Rory Sykes’s cerebral palsy. Sykes stated on social media she and her 32-year-old son Rory Sykes lived in Malibu in Los Angeles County.

She said that Rory Sykes who appeared on British television show “Kiddy Kapers”, in the 1990s had his own cottage on the estate. He was blind and could not walk.

Shelley Sykes reported that she saw embers burning on the roof and attempted to put them out with a water hose. “There was no water coming from it.”

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Sunday that he will be deploying 1,000 more members of the California National Guard in order to fight wildfires burning near Los Angeles.

Newsom stated that the addition of the National Guard members to the response team brings the total number of servicemen and women who are helping in the firefighting effort up to approximately 2,500.

L.A. County’s Unified School district — the second largest in the country after New York City — has announced that it will reopen most of its schools on Monday, with a few exceptions. Only a few schools will remain closed because of mandatory evacuation orders.

Santa Monica Malibu District says that it will reopen all Santa Monica Schools except for one elementary school. Malibu Schools, however, will remain closed until at least Wednesday due to the ongoing safety concerns resulting from the Palisades fire and the need to assess campus, clean roads and reopen the road.

The Beverly Hills district has announced that it will “fully reopen” on Monday. In a letter posted on the district website, the district superintendent, Dr. Michael Bregy says that this decision was “not taken lightly.”

The L.A. County Coroner’s Office said that it was investigating 24 deaths in relation to wildfires around Los Angeles.

The Palisades Fire was suspected to be responsible for eight deaths, while the Eaton Fire is suspected to have caused 16 deaths.

As of Sunday evening, only two victims had been identified. Charles Mortimer was killed by the Palisades Fire, and Victor Shaw was killed by the Eaton Fire. According to the coroner, both died on Wednesday.

Los Angeles’ power companies are working to reduce the risk of wildfires by clearing vegetation and protecting power lines.

The crews have been working for days to stop as many power poles along the Palisades Fire on the Los Angeles coastline and the Eaton Fire high in the mountains of Pasadena, Altadena, and Pasadena.

“We are far ahead of the fire,” said Connor Norton one of the PG&E workers working in North Hollywood Sunday.

They first remove all the dry vegetation from around the poles. Using hoes and power tool, they try to remove as much as possible that could pose a danger to the grid.

Rob Cone of PG&E said, “Our job is getting out along the edge of the fire where the fire might go.”

Then, using their trucks, they douse each pole with the fire retardant that is dropped from firefighting planes.

The spray is sprayed as high as possible up each pole and into any cracks, to prevent embers from latching in and starting a fire.

Dean Fiorisi, Dillon Thomas

Authorities say that now that the Hurst Fire has almost been completely contained in Sylmar, they are investigating whether Southern California Edison equipment which was downed caused it.

The fire was reported for the first time at around 10:30 pm on Tuesday. This is hours after Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire had broken out elsewhere in Los Angeles County.

SCE officials confirmed on Friday that an initial investigation showed that the circuit in Eagle Rock/Sylmar experienced a power glitch at 10:11 pm, right before the fire report. A conductor that had fallen near an electrical tower was also found. The company is unsure whether the damage happened before or after a fire.

As soon as the news broke that the fire was raging, thousands of people were forced into evacuation. Since then, all evacuation orders related to the fire have been lifted. Crews reported that the fire caused no structural damage.

The National Weather Service Los Angeles posted red flag wind warnings from 4 a.m. local time on Tuesday to noon on Wednesday.

The office states that winds will be stronger than last week, but still strong enough to cause an “explosive growth of fire.”

The office states that gusts of 45-70 mph could occur, some of which are “locally damaging”, adding that relative humidity will be low in the range 8-15%. A higher humidity level helps firefighters.