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Helping drive the wildfires in the US city of Los Angeles are the so-called Santa Ana winds, a weather phenomenon known to dry out “the hills and the nerves to flash point.”The windstorms occur when cold air gathers in the neighboring states of Nevada and Utah. As it moves west and then rushes down California’s mountains, it heats up — and dries out.- Creating fuel, spreading fires -The Santa Anas can both create the conditions for deadly wildfires and fuel them once they are underway — drying out vegetation when they blow through, and then fanning blazes once they spark.As the 23,700-acre (9,500-hectare) Palisades Fire and 14,000-acre Eaton Fire have raged around Los Angeles, fast-moving winds have exacerbated the situation, throwing hot embers into new patches of dried brush.While firefighters sought to take advantage of a brief lull on Friday and Saturday, heavy winds were back with gusts up to 70 miles per hour (110 kilometers per hour) by Sunday, with harsh conditions forecast to continue this week.- Cold air, hot winds -Santa Ana winds usually occur between September and May, typically for a few days at a time.When a high-pressure system forms over the deserts to California’s east, it pushes air toward the Pacific coast.As they move down the Santa Ana and Sierra Nevada mountains and shoot through valleys, the winds compress — creating a rise in their temperature and a drop in their relative humidity.With hot, dry gusts that can knock down trees or kick up dust and particulate matter, the winds have long caused problems in southern California.The 2017 Thomas Fire, which destroyed more than 1,000 structures, was fueled in part by back-to-back Santa Ana winds.- Frayed nerves -The Washington Post likened the weather pattern to “a giant hair dryer,” and writers have long noted the effect the winds seem to have on residents psychologically.American author Raymond Chandler once described them as so hot they “curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch.” For Joan Didion, they blew “sandstorms out along Route 66, drying the hills and nerves to flash point.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered assistance to wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles, saying Ukraine’s firefighters can “help Americans save lives” as the city struggles to combat new blazes. Deadly infernos have ripped through Los Angeles, killing at least 24 people in less than a week, reducing whole communities to scorched rubble and leaving thousands without homes. Conditions could dramatically worsen in the United States’ second-largest city as strong gusts fan flames and whip up embers, with firefighters warning the blazes could move from existing burn zones into new areas.Zelensky said Sunday evening that he had instructed Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs “to prepare for the possible participation of our rescuers in combating the wildfires in California”. “The situation there is extremely difficult, and Ukrainians can help Americans save lives,” he said in a video posted on social media platform X, adding the aid is “currently being coordinated”. “150 of our firefighters are already prepared.”The United States under President Joe Biden has been Kyiv’s biggest wartime backer, providing military aid worth more than $65 billion since Moscow’s invasion in February 2022.Incoming president-elect Donald Trump has promised to resolve the conflict in “24 hours” once in office, raising fears in Ukraine that it will be forced to make major concessions in exchange for peace.

A quarter century after its founding, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin is finally ready for its maiden orbital voyage with a brand new rocket the company hopes will shake up the commercial space race. Named New Glenn after legendary astronaut John Glenn, it stands 320 feet (98 meters) tall, roughly equivalent to a 32-story building, and is set to blast off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in a launch window that opens at 1:00 am (0600 GMT) Monday.”Pointy end up!” the company’s CEO, Dave Limp posted on X alongside photos of the gleaming white behemoth.With the mission, dubbed NG-1, billionaire Amazon founder Bezos is taking aim at the only man in the world wealthier than him: Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX dominates the orbital launch market through its prolific Falcon 9 rockets, vital for the commercial sector, the Pentagon and NASA.”SpaceX has for the past several years been pretty much the only game in town, and so having a competitor… this is great,” G. Scott Hubbard, a retired senior NASA official, told AFP.SpaceX, meanwhile, is planning the next orbital test of Starship — its gargantuan new-generation rocket — this week, upping the high-stakes rivalry.- Landing attempt -Soon after launch, Blue Origin will attempt to land the first-stage booster on a drone ship named Jacklyn, in honor of Bezos’s mother, stationed about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. Though SpaceX has long made such landings a near-routine spectacle, this will be Blue Origin’s first shot at a touchdown on the high seas.Meanwhile, the rocket’s upper stage will fire its engines toward Earth orbit, reaching a maximum altitude of roughly 12,000 miles above the surface.A Defense Department-funded prototype spaceship called Blue Ring will remain aboard for the roughly six-hour test flight. Blue Origin has experience landing its New Shepard rockets — used for suborbital tourism — but they are much smaller and land on terra firma rather than a ship at sea.Physically, New Glenn dwarfs the 230-foot Falcon 9 and is designed for heavier payloads. It slots between Falcon 9 and its big sibling, Falcon Heavy, in terms of mass capacity but holds an edge with its wider payload fairing, capable of carrying the equivalent of 20 moving trucks.- Slow v fast development -Blue Origin has already secured a NASA contract to launch two Mars probes aboard New Glenn. The rocket will also support the deployment of Project Kuiper, a satellite internet constellation designed to compete with Starlink.For now, however, SpaceX maintains a commanding lead, while other rivals — United Launch Alliance, Arianespace, and Rocket Lab — trail far behind.Like Musk, Bezos has a lifelong passion for space. But whereas Musk dreams of colonizing Mars, Bezos envisions shifting heavy industry off-planet onto floating space platforms in order to preserve Earth, “humanity’s blue origin.”He founded Blue Origin in 2000 — two years before Musk created SpaceX — but has adopted a more cautious pace, in contrast to his rival’s “fail fast, learn fast” philosophy.If New Glenn succeeds, it will give the US government “dissimilar redundancy” — valuable backup if one system fails, said Scott Pace, a space policy analyst at George Washington University.Musk’s closeness to President-elect Donald Trump has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, especially with private astronaut Jared Isaacman — a business associate of Musk — slated to become the next NASA chief.Bezos, however, has been making his own overtures, paying respect to his former foe during a visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, while Amazon has said it would donate $1 million to the inauguration committee.

Wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles on Sunday confronted the return of dangerous winds, as officials vowed firefighters were ready to combat any new blazes whipped up by furious gusts.At least 16 people have been confirmed dead from infernos that have ripped through the United States’ second-largest city for five days, reducing whole communities to scorched rubble and leaving thousands without homes.Despite massive firefighting efforts, the largest fire spread toward upscale Brentwood and the densely populated San Fernando Valley, as winds up to 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour hit on Sunday.Conditions are set to dramatically worsen, with “extreme fire behavior and life threatening conditions” to peak with 70 mile per hour winds in a rare “particularly dangerous situation (PDS)” declared from early Tuesday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld.These could fan flames and whip up embers from existing burn zones into new areas, firefighters warned.Los Angeles County Fire Department chief Anthony Marrone said his department had received resources including dozens of new water trucks and firefighters from far afield, and was primed to face the renewed threat.Questioned whether hydrants could run dry again, as they did during the initial outbreak of fires last week, Mayor Karen Bass replied: “I believe the city is prepared.”Frustration mounted as evacuees waited all day at disaster zone perimeters, hoping to be allowed to visit their homes and try to retrieve vital medication and pets.- Search for bodies -But Sheriff Robert Luna said escorts into these areas were being suspended Sunday with the return of high winds, dangerous conditions among the wreckage, and the need to retrieve victims’ bodies.Search-and-rescue operations for fatalities were only just beginning, and “as these searches continue, I unfortunately anticipate that those numbers will increase,” he said.Several more arrests of looters were made, including one burglar who had dressed as a firefighter to steal from homes. Nighttime curfews in evacuated zones have been extended, and additional National Guard resources have been requested. Prevented from entering an evacuation zone, Altadena resident Bobby Salman, 42, said: “I have to be there to protect my family, my wife, my kids, my mom and I cannot even go and see them.”In the ravaged Pacific Palisades neighborhood, a handwritten sign saying “looters will be shot” was hung on a tree outside a home, next to the US flag.The Palisades Fire grew overnight to 23,700 acres (9,500 hectares) burnt, and was just 11 percent contained.Video footage showed “fire tornadoes” — red-hot spirals that occur when a blaze is so intense it creates its own weather system.The ferocious fire also left streaks of molten metal flowing from burnt-out cars.But containment of the 14,000-acre Eaton Fire in Altadena almost doubled, new figures showed, with 27 percent of its perimeter controlled.The total number of residents under evacuation orders dropped to around 100,000, from a peak of almost 180,000.The sudden rush of people needing somewhere to live has posed a growing problem for the city, with reports of illegal price gouging from opportunistic landlords.”I’m back on the market with tens of thousands of people,” said a man who gave his name as Brian, whose rent-controlled apartment had burned. “That doesn’t bode well.”- ‘Worst catastrophes’ -President-elect Donald Trump has accused California officials of incompetence.”This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country. They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.Officials including Mayor Bass said they had not personally spoken with the incoming president, but that potential timings for Trump to visit the disaster scenes were being discussed.President Biden was due to meet key officials later Sunday for a briefing on efforts to suppress the wildfires, the White House said.A huge investigation by federal and local authorities was underway to determine what caused the blazes.California Governor Gavin Newsom told Meet the Press he was also launching a “Marshall Plan” as the city looks to rebuild.”We already have a team looking at reimagining L.A. 2.0,” he said.He also stressed the immediate problem of weather conditions, saying “the challenge is the winds. We’ve got these winds coming back this evening, Sunday night. We’ve got peak winds on Monday.”While the ignition of a wildfire can be deliberate, they are often natural, and a vital part of an environment’s life cycle.But urban sprawl puts people more frequently in harm’s way, and the changing climate — supercharged by humanity’s unchecked use of fossil fuels — is exacerbating the conditions that give rise to destructive blazes.

A looter disguised himself as a firefighter to raid a home around fire-wrecked Malibu, police said Sunday.The alleged raider was one of more than two dozen people arrested as huge blazes rip through the Los Angeles area, with evacuees on edge over the safety of homes they were forced to flee.Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said his deputies stopped the man in the Palisades Fire evacuation zone, which extends into Malibu.”I saw a gentleman that looked like a firefighter, and I asked him if he was okay, because he was sitting down,” Luna told a press conference.”I didn’t realize we had him in handcuffs. We were turning him over to (the Los Angeles Police Department) because he was dressed like a fireman and he was not. “He just got caught burglarizing a home”Luna’s opposite number at LAPD, Jim McDonnell, said investigating officers determined he was one of three people who had been driving around the ruined neighborhood.A nighttime curfew is in place across the disaster zones around Pacific Palisades and Altadena, where two fires have laid waste to whole communities.City and county officials have repeatedly warned that anyone in the evacuation areas between 6pm and 6am is going to be collared.For the man allegedly preying on victims by pretending to be a first responder, the penalty could be even stiffer, said McDonnell.Officers arrested him additionally for impersonating a firefighter, he said — a crime that could result in a year in jail.”We have people who will go to all ends… to exploit the victims of this tragedy,” McDonnell said.More than 100,000 people remain evacuated from multiple disaster zones that cover 40,000 acres (16,000 hectares) around Los Angeles.The fires have killed at least 16 people, with many more unaccounted for.They have also destroyed more than 12,000 structures, including hundreds of homes.

As Los Angeles is gripped by wildfires that resemble a Hollywood disaster movie, the city’s vast entertainment industry is already counting the costs of yet another drastic setback that its workers can ill-afford.Actors, crew, writers and producers have lost their homes; film and television productions have been temporarily halted; and calls are mounting for Hollywood’s award season to be canceled.It comes with Los Angeles’s entertainment sector — worth $115 billion to the region’s economy — already in dire straits, as some film and TV productions abandon the city over high costs. The Covid-19 pandemic and recent labor upheavals have also taken their toll in recent years.”Hollywood, as everyone, was hit by the pandemic with severe consequences. The strikes, obviously, affected the industry, probably forever,” said Marc Malkin, senior culture and events editor for trade magazine Variety.”Add the fires to that, and Hollywood is just being hit over and over again.”Stars including Anthony Hopkins, Mel Gibson and Billy Crystal have lost their homes to the past week’s blazes.But that is only the tip of the iceberg, with thousands of houses destroyed across a city that is home to 680,000 people employed in the entertainment industry or service jobs directly supporting it.”Grey’s Anatomy,” “NCIS,” “Hacks” and “Fallout” are among more than a dozen Los Angeles-based TV productions that have seen their sets go dark since the fires broke out.Parts of the city where major soundstages are located, including Burbank, were threatened by the fires, but have so far been spared.But Film LA, which handles permissions for outdoor movie and TV shoots, warned producers working in or near evacuation zones to “expect to have your permit canceled,” and advised others that on-set safety supervisors would be in short supply. With dense smoke and soot cloaking the entire region, even productions hoping to film further afield are affected.”If you’re shooting outside in Los Angeles right now, not great. The air quality is that bad,” said Malkin.- ‘Glitz-and-glamor’ -There is no word yet on when productions will resume. Aside from the many logistical issues, the industry must consider the optics of returning to normal while swaths of Los Angeles are aflame.Nowhere is this issue more delicate than with Hollywood’s ongoing award season — an endless series of swanky premieres, galas and prize-giving ceremonies that is currently on hold.Events including the Critics Choice Awards show have been delayed, and Los Angeles premieres for films like Pamela Anderson’s “The Last Showgirl” and the Robbie Williams biopic “Better Man” were scrapped last week.The cancellations even extended to New York, where a premiere for hit Apple TV show “Severance” was aborted.”The studios, the streamers, are having the right response by canceling or postponing glitz-and-glamor events,” said Malkin.”For people to walk the red carpet, all glitzy and glamor-y, while Los Angeles is literally and figuratively burning… it would be a little disconcerting to hear people either talking about their fashion or that ‘silly story from set.'”Even the televised announcement of this year’s Oscars nominees has been delayed.”So many of our members and industry colleagues live and work in the Los Angeles area, and we are thinking of you,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer wrote in a message to members.”Hacks” actress Jean Smart has advocated going a step further, and scrapping the entire season.”With ALL due respect, during Hollywood’s season of celebration, I hope any of the networks televising the upcoming awards will seriously consider NOT televising them and donating the revenue they would have garnered to the victims of the fires and the firefighters,” Smart wrote on Instagram.While few in Tinseltown are in the mood for celebrating, Malkin warned that canceling the entire season would have devastating ripple effects on hair-and-makeup artists, waiters, drivers and security staff.”Yes, the celebrities are going to be okay, financially,” he said.”But when you think about all the people who staff these various award shows, these are gig workers who rely on these paychecks… it would have a devastating effect.”

Lionsgate’s heist film “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” opened atop the North American box office this weekend with an estimated $15.5 million in ticket sales, industry watchers said Sunday.”This is a good opening for the second episode in a crime thriller series,” said analyst David A. Gross. “These movies are made for audiences, not critics.”Gerald Butler plays Los Angeles sheriff “Big Nick” as he travels to Europe in pursuit of a dangerous gang of thieves. The story was inspired by the $100 million Antwerp heist of 2003, the largest diamond robbery ever.Disney animation “Mufasa: The Lion King” slipped a spot from last weekend, to $13.2 million. Its accumulated ticket sales have passed the half-billion-dollar mark, with $188.7 million domestically and $350 million internationally.Paramount’s action comedy “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” also dropped a spot, to third. The videogame-based film had estimated ticket sales of $11 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported.Also down one spot from last weekend was Focus Features’ Dracula-inspired vampire pic “Nosferatu,” at $6.8 million. And slipping from fourth to fifth was Disney blockbuster “Moana 2,” at $6.5 million. Its ticket sales in seven weeks out are nearing the billion-dollar mark, at $434.9 million domestically and $554 million internationally.Gross meantime noted that the 2024 domestic box office, while ending with a strong six-week stretch, finished about three percent below 2023 — and roughly 24 percent below the average of the three pre-pandemic years. Rounding out the top 10 were:”Wicked” ($5 million)”A Complete Unknown” ($5 million)”Babygirl” ($3.1 million)”The Last Showgirl” ($1.5 million)”Gladiator II” ($1.2 million)

Days after an inferno razed Pacific Palisades, Maya Lieberman is desperate to find somewhere to live. But unscrupulous landlords who are jacking up prices are making it hard.”The price gouging is going haywire, it’s obscene,” the 50-year-old stylist told AFP.”I can’t find anywhere for us to go.”Huge fires that have torn through Los Angeles since Tuesday have leveled whole neighborhoods, turning swaths of the city to ash.More than 150,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes as authorities try to keep down a death toll that has already reached 16.One blaze devastated Pacific Palisades, an upmarket enclave that was home to celebrities like Billy Crystal and Kate Beckinsale, which — until this week — was some of the most desirable real estate in the United States.With the area now under a compulsory evacuation order, even those whose homes survived the inferno need to go elsewhere for the foreseeable future.The higher-than-average incomes of people forced to leave homes there appear to have tempted opportunists, who see a chance to make money from others’ misery.”We put in an application at a house… that was listed at $17,000 a month, and they told us if we didn’t pay $30,000, we weren’t going to get it,” Lieberman said.”They told me they have people ready to offer more and pay cash. It’s absolutely insane.”- Illegal -Similar stories of apparent price gouging abound.”I have friends who booked a hotel outside Los Angeles, and when they arrived there, they were asked for a higher price,” said TV producer Alex Smith, who has been forced to leave his home.The sharp practice has drawn the ire of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who warned Saturday there are laws against it.”Price gouging is illegal. We will not stand for it. We will hold you accountable. We will prosecute,” he told reporters, adding that those found guilty could land themselves a year in jail.Once a state of emergency is declared — as it has been for the out-of-control fires — vendors cannot increase their prices by more than 10 percent.That applies to small businesses as well as to mega-companies whose automated tools use supply and demand to set the cost of everything from hotel stays to concert tickets.”If those algorithms lead to prices higher after the declaration of emergency than before, by more than 10 percent, you’re violating the law,” Bonta said.”You need to figure out how to adjust your prices consistent with the law. And if that means departing from your algorithm, depart from your algorithm.”The protections had been due to expire after 30 to 180 days — but on Sunday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order extending them until Jaunary 7, 2026.But for Brian, a retiree who has been sleeping in his car since the evacuation order was raised, the rules protecting against price gouging are almost beside the point.The 69-year-old, who did not want to give his full name, had been living in a rent-controlled studio apartment in Pacific Palisades for two decades.That has now gone, and along with it the guarantee that his rent cannot rise.His pension, he fears, will not stretch far in a city where rents have doubled in the last 10 years — a problem likely to be exacerbated by the sudden rush of people needing somewhere new to live.”I’m back on the market with tens of thousands of people,” he said.”That doesn’t bode well.”

US officials warned “dangerous and strong” winds were set to push deadly wildfires further through Los Angeles residential areas Sunday as firefighters struggled to make progress against the flames.At least 16 people have been confirmed dead from blazes that have ripped through the city, reducing whole neighborhoods to ashes and leaving thousands without homes.Despite massive efforts, including precision sorties from aerial crews, the Palisades Fire continued to grow, spreading east towards the priceless collections of the Getty Center art museum and north to the densely populated San Fernando Valley.”The winds are potentially getting dangerous and strong again,” Deanne Criswell, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), told CNN.”The biggest thing that people need to know is that this is still dangerous.”A brief lull in the wind gave way to gusts that forecasters warned could reach up to 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour) early Sunday, and feed the blazes for days to come.The winds were due to weaken later Sunday before picking up again overnight, the National Weather Service said.- Nowhere to live -The Palisades Fire was 11 percent contained but had grown to 23,600 acres (9,500 hectares), while the Eaton Fire was at 14,000 acres and 15 percent contained.Official figures show more than 12,000 structures burned, though Cal Fire’s Todd Hopkins said not all were houses and the number included outbuildings, trailers and sheds.In some areas, the ferocious fire left streaks of molten metal flowing from burnt-out cars.The sudden rush of evacuated people needing somewhere to live posed a growing problem for the city.”I’m back on the market with tens of thousands of people,” said a man who gave his name as Brian, whose rent-controlled apartment has burned. “That doesn’t bode well.”With incidences of looting and a nighttime curfew in place, police and National Guard mounted checkpoints to prevent people getting into the disaster zones.Two people were arrested near Vice President Kamala Harris’s Brentwood house for violating the curfew order after police received reports of burglary.A handwritten sign with “looters will be shot” was hung on one tree, next to the US flag outside a house in Pacific Palisades.But the security checkpoints have left residents frustrated as they queue for up to 10 hours to try to get back in and see what, if anything, is left of their homes or check on family.Prevented from entering an evacuation zone, Altadena resident Bobby Salman, 42, said: “I have to be there to protect my family, my wife, my kids, my mom and I cannot even go and see them.”The queues left some people fuming about poor management, the latest gripe from a population already angry over hydrants that ran dry in the initial firefight.City officials have put on a united front after reports of a behind-the-scenes row between the mayor and the fire chief.But President-elect Donald Trump accused California officials of incompetence.”This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country. They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.Teams with cadaver dogs were combing through the rubble, with several people known to be missing and fears that the death toll will grow.Among those known to have died in the tragedy was former Australian child star Rory Sykes, who appeared in British TV show “Kiddy Kapers” in the 1990s.- Climate impact -A huge investigation by federal and local authorities was underway to determine what caused the blazes.California Governor Gavin Newsom told Meet the Press he was also launching a “Marshall Plan” for the state as it looks to rebuild.”We already have a team looking at reimagining L.A. 2.0,” he said.He also stressed the immediate problem of weather conditions, saying “the challenge is the winds. We’ve got these winds coming back this evening, Sunday night. We’ve got peak winds on Monday.”While the ignition of a wildfire can be deliberate, they are often natural, and a vital part of an environment’s life cycle.But urban sprawl puts people more frequently in harm’s way, and the changing climate — supercharged by humanity’s unchecked use of fossil fuels — is exacerbating the conditions that give rise to destructive blazes.

Firefighters battled Sunday to get on top of massive wildfires around Los Angeles as winds ramped up, pushing the blazes toward previously untouched neighborhoods.At least 16 people were confirmed dead from fires that have ripped through the city, leaving communities in ruins and testing the mettle of thousands of firefighters — and millions of California residents.Despite heroic efforts, including precision sorties from aerial crews, the Palisades Fire continued to grow, pushing east towards the priceless collections of the Getty Center art museum and north to the densely populated San Fernando Valley.In some areas, the fire had turned houses to ashes and left streaks of molten metal flowing from burnt-out cars.Footage from the Mandeville Canyon area showed one home consumed, with a wall of flame licking up a hillside to menace others.A brief lull in the wind was rapidly giving way to gusts that forecasters warned would feed the blazes for days to come.”Critical fire-weather conditions will unfortunately ramp up again today for southern California and last through at least early next week,” the National Weather Service said.”This may lead to the spread of ongoing fires as well as the development of new ones.”- Row -The Palisades Fire was 11 percent contained Saturday but had grown to 23,600 acres (9,500 hectares), while the Eaton Fire was at 14,000 acres and 15 percent contained.Official figures show more than 12,000 structures burned, but Cal Fire’s Todd Hopkins said not all were homes, and the number would also include outbuildings, recreational vehicles and sheds.The sudden rush of people needing somewhere new to live in the months ahead looked set to make life hard for already-squeezed renters in the city.”I’m back on the market with tens of thousands of people,” said a man who gave his name as Brian, whose rent-controlled apartment has burned. “That doesn’t bode well.”With reports of looting and a nighttime curfew in place, police and National Guard have mounted checkpoints to prevent people getting into the disaster zones.Two people were arrested near Vice President Kamala Harris’s Brentwood house for violating the curfew order after police recieved reports of burglary, local media reported citing police.A handwritten sign with “looters will be shot” was hung on a tree, next to the US flag outside a house in Pacific Palisades.But the security checkpoints have left residents frustrated as they queue for up to 10 hours to try to get back in and see what, if anything, is left of their homes or check on family.Prevented from entering an evacuation zone, Altadena resident Bobby Salman, 42, said: “I have to be there to protect my family, my wife, my kids, my mom and I cannot even go and see them.”The long queues left some people fuming about poor management, the latest gripe from a population already angry over hydrants that ran dry in the initial firefight.City officials put on a united front Saturday after reports of a behind-the-scenes row and suggestions that Mayor Karen Bass had sacked her fire chief.An at-times tense joint press conference came after Chief Kristin Crowley complained her fire department was short of cash.President-elect Donald Trump accused California officials of incompetence over their handling of the fires.”The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols (politicians) have no idea how to put them out,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.”This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country. They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?” he wrote.Among those known to have died in the tragedy was former Australian child star Rory Sykes, who appeared in British TV show “Kiddy Kapers” in the 1990s.”It is with great sadness that I have to announce the death of my beautiful son @Rorysykes to the Malibu fires yesterday. I’m totally heart broken,” his mother Shelley Sykes wrote on social media.Teams with cadaver dogs were combing through the rubble, with several people known to be missing and fears that the death toll will grow.- Investigation -A huge investigation was underway to determine what caused the blazes, involving the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), along with local authorities, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.”We are not going to leave any rock unturned,” he said.While the ignition of a wildfire can be deliberate, they are often natural, and a vital part of an environment’s life cycle.But urban sprawl puts people more frequently in harm’s way, and the changing climate — supercharged by humanity’s unchecked use of fossil fuels — is exacerbating the conditions that give rise to destructive blazes.