Nearly 250K without power as wildfires rage in California: See map
Nearly 250,000 people and businesses remain without power Thursday as wildfires continue to rage across Southern California.
As of about 1:15 p.m. ET, 249,515 outages had been reported, according to the USA TODAY power outage tracker. A majority of them were in northern Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's outage map shows.
The deadly fires broke out Monday and have destroyed at least 1,000 homes, businesses and other structures, according to Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone. At least five fatalities have been confirmed, and more deaths are possible as the fires continue to expand and new ones ignite.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency this week as more than 100,000 people have been forced to flee their homes and evacuate the area.
President Joe Biden also approved Newsom's request for a major disaster declaration and ordered federal assistance for response efforts in areas impacted by the fires.
More than 7,500 state personnel are on the ground working with local and federal partners in an effort to contain the fires, according to Newsom's office.
The fires ? Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, Lidia, Sunset ? have burned thousands of acres and continued to spread.
As of Thursday afternoon, Cal Fire reported the Palisades, Eaton, and Sunset fires were at zero containment, while firefighters had contained 10% of the Hurst Fire and 40% of the Lidia Fire.
Map of California power outages
What started the California wildfires?
According to authorities, the culprits behind the wildfires are low humidity and dry vegetation caused by scarce rain and strong winds.
Before the fire began, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned the affected areas in Los Angeles County of extreme fire conditions and the possibility of winds reaching 100 mph.
California Governor's Office of Emergency Services said wildfires are causing unhealthy air quality conditions.
"If you are impacted, stay indoors and wear a mask if you must go outside," the agency posted on X. "Close all windows, doors and vents.
When will power be back on in California?
Customers with outages "should expect crews to respond between 24-48 hours from the time outages are reported," the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power said.
Restoration of outages may take longer, according to the city government office.
Some repair crews have already begun working to restore power in areas including the city of LA, North Hollywood, and Universal City, the Department of Water & Power's map shows.
This story has been updated to add new information.
Contributing: Thao Nguyen, John Bacon, and Jonathan Limehouse
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Power outages remain in Los Angeles over wildfires: See map