By America-Today  January,13 2025

Firefighters scrambled Sunday to make further progress

against wildfires that have killed 16 people in the Los Angeles area as forecast

ers again warned of dangerous weather with the return of strong winds this

week. At least 16 people were missing, and authorities said that number was

expected to rise.

The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for severe fire condi

tions through Wednesday, with sustained winds of 50 mph (80 kph) and gusts

in the mountains reaching 70 mph (113 kph). The most dangerous day will be

Tuesday, said weather service meteorologist Rich Thompson.

“You’re going to have really strong gusty Santa Ana winds, a very dry at

mosphere and still very dry brush, so we still have some very critical fire

weather conditions out there,” Thompson said at a community meeting

Saturday night.

Fierce Santa Ana winds have been largely blamed for turning the wildfires

sparked last week into infernos that leveled entire neighborhoods around the

city where there has been no significant rainfall in more than eight months.

Twelve people were missing within the Eaton Fire zone and four from the

Palisades Fire, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, the death toll rose to 16 over the weekend. Five of the deaths

were attributed to the Palisades Fire and 11 resulted from the Eaton Fire, the

Los Angeles County coroner’s office said in a statement Saturday evening.

The previous number of confirmed fatalities before Saturday was 11, but offi

cials said they expected that figure to increase as teams with cadaver dogs

conduct systematic grid searches in leveled neighborhoods. Authorities have

established a center where people can report the missing.