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Saturday 18 Jan 2025
LOCAL EDITION
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LOCAL EDITION
Police and rescue teams search Los Angeles' wildfire ruins, sifting through ashes for survivors and victims of the devastating blaze. (Photo/AFP)
Sheriff's deputies on horseback have fanned out through charred brush, hunting for the remains of people who perished when huge wildfires raced through Los Angeles.
At least 27 people are known to have died in the two massive blazes, with dozens still missing.
Ten days after flames erupted, frustration was growing among the tens of thousands who remain in limbo, unable to return even to homes that were spared by the flames, because of unseen dangers like toxic pollution or the risk of landslides.
Nina Madok, who lost her home in the Palisades Fire, told the AFP news agency that an information meeting for evacuees had been "worthless."
"We need local leaders from the Palisades to answer our questions now."
An emotional Los Angeles Assistant Fire Chief Joe Everett told those present: "It's extremely, extremely hard for me to look you in the eye knowing that, quite honestly, I feel like I failed you in some respect."
'Don't point your finger at California'
Officials said on Thursday it would be at least a week until anyone could go home.
Los Angeles City Mayor Karen Bass, under pressure over her handling of the disaster, announced the appointment of a chief recovery officer.
Steve Soboroff, a former police commissioner, said he was devising an action plan for the path forward.
"There is an A to Z for each one of us, and A is today," he told a press conference. "We're going to get there step by step."
But with dangerous rubble strewn over a large swath and the final death toll still unknown, the area remained in emergency mode.
Urban search teams using cadaver dogs continued their painstaking trawl through Altadena, where whole blocks of homes were incinerated.
In the countryside above Malibu, Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies on horseback were also looking for the dead.
Although they reportedly have no specific information that there was anyone in the wild area, it all has to be searched before it can be reopened to the public.
Acclaim for firefighters
Thousands of firefighters continued their efforts to snuff out hotspots over the 40,000 acres (16,000 hectares) that have been burned — an area almost as big as the US capital Washington.
All over Los Angeles, signs have appeared thanking first responders, including one outside the studio where Jimmy Kimmel records his late-night chat show.
Entertainment website TMZ posted a video of diners in Calabasas clapping as uniformed firefighters finished a meal, which the site reported had been paid for by other customers and the restaurant.
The acclaim for first responders stood in contrast to the political bickering, which has seen Republicans across the country line up behind President-elect Donald Trump as he bashes California's Democratic leadership.
Trump has previously threatened to withhold federal aid to the state unless Governor Gavin Newsom bends to his policy demands, and some congressional allies have sought to link cash to the incoming administration's priorities.
Actor Eric Braeden, a mainstay of US daytime soap opera "The Young and the Restless," on Thursday lashed out at the politicisation of the issue.
"We contribute more taxes than any other state in America," said the actor, whose Pacific Palisades home was razed in the fires.
"The rest of the country: don't point your finger at California."
US tennis great Pam Shriver appealed on Friday for the return of trophies stolen with her car after she evacuated her luxury home.
"Let's do the right thing," she told broadcaster KTLA. "This is not the time to give people even more stress and more worry."
Dozens of people have been arrested in the wake of the disaster, with several charged for looting.
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Source: TRT
