'Heartbreaking:' Wildfires leave Los Angeles communities in ruins. See photos of the damage
Amaris Encinas, USA TODAY
1 min read
It's all hands-on deck in Southern California, where deadly fires continue to burn due to a combination of high winds, low humidity and relentless drought conditions.
Since multiple fires ignited across various communities in Los Angeles County last week, tens of thousands were forced to evacuate, more than 12,000 homes were destroyed or damaged and at least 24 people have been killed.
Scores of firefighters, including hundreds of prison inmates, are working around the clock to extinguish the flames amid "particularly dangerous" weather conditions in northern Los Angeles County and Ventura County areas.
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President Joe Biden announced on Friday that the federal government would cover 100% of the costs incurred by California wildfires for the next 180 days. Biden has also encouraged people impacted by the wildfires to apply for assistance through Federal Emergency Management Agency programs.
"That said, that was a heartbreaking weekend for a lot of people in Los Angeles," Biden said Tuesday. "Ash was raining down like snow. Homes burned to the ground ? thousands of those homes are gone. And we learned we lost more of our fellow Americans."
According to Biden, it's going to "cost tens of billions of dollars" to get the City of Angels back to where it once was.
Below are photos that capture the aftermath of the blazes, which continue to burn.
Track wildfires burning across the Los Angeles area
Ventura County Firefighter Clay Cundiff watches the roof of a home that continued to flare up on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. Many homes along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu have been consumed by a wildfire that broke out in Los Angeles County the day before.
Idaho firefighters look for hot spots and small flare-ups in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood Tuesday.
The remains of a Pacific Palisades home destroyed by the Palisades fire.
Smoke rises from burned down home in Malibu, California on Jan. 13, 2025.
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Burned cars destroyed by the Eaton Fire that started in Altadena, California pictured on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025.
A burned home destroyed by the Eaton Fire pictured on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025.
A search and rescue team searches the remains of a home burned by the Palisades Fire, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles, California.
A view shows the remains of a home burned by the Palisades Fire, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood on Jan. 14, 2025.
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A view shows the remains of homes burned by the Palisades Fire, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood on Jan. 14, 2025.
A mailbox stands at a home burned by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood on Jan. 14, 2025.
Lemons hang from trees in the yard of a home burned by the Palisades Fire, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles on Jan. 14, 2025.
An overhead pole camera image shows wildfire damage to an Altadena Drive street sign and home destroyed by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California on Jan. 14, 2025.
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A chimney remains at the site of a home that was destroyed by the Palisades Fire on January 14, 2025 in Pacific Palisades, California.
Kids' lunch boxes sit in a locker at the Marquez Charter Elementary School that was destroyed by the Palisades Fire on January 14, 2025, in Pacific Palisades, California.
Structures damaged from the Eaton Fire in Altadena as wildfires cause damage and loss through the Los Angeles County region on Jan. 14, 2025.
A destroyed home picture on Jan. 13, 2025, in Malibu, California.
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A destroyed home picture on January 13, 2025, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.
Charred homes and burnt cars are pictured amid the rubble of the fire-ravaged Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Estates in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 13, 2025.
Contributing: Trevor Hughes, Thao Nguyen, Charles Ventura, Christopher Cann and Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY
