Death toll from Los Angeles wildfires hits 16

The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office on Saturday evening said the confirmed death toll from the area’s wildfires has risen to 16, up from the previous confirmed 11.
Five of the new total were from the Palisades Fire and 11 from the Eaton Fire, according to the coroner’s office statement.
Firefighters raced on Saturday to get in front of the largest and most destructive fire burning in Los Angeles as it shifted directions and grew by about 400 hectares. The Santa Ana winds that fuelled the blazes are forecast to return.
“We need to be aggressive out there,” California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) Operations Chief Christian Litz told reporters at a Saturday briefing.
The National Weather Service predicted winds picking up Saturday night into Sunday morning in the area and again late Monday through Tuesday morning, with sustained winds up to 48 kph and gusts up to 112 kph.
The toll stood at 11 people killed, at least 13 missing and more than 12,000 structures destroyed on Saturday. Officials have warned that the death toll could increase.
Planes and helicopters worked together on Saturday in an aerial assault, dropping water to aid the firefighters working on the ground in Mandeville Canyon and to keep the Palisades Fire from continuing to spread, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The shift of the Palisades Fire, the largest of five, prompted evacuation orders, including the Brentwood and Encino neighborhoods and the foothills of the San Fernando Valley. The fire is threatening the J. Paul Getty Museum and University of California, Los Angeles campus. If it jumps Interstate 405, the densely populated Hollywood Hills and San Fernando Valley would be in danger.
Cal Fire official Todd Hopkins told reporters on Saturday that 11 per cent of the Palisades Fire is contained. The second-largest blaze, the Eaton fire, was 15 per cent contained, according to the department.
The Palisades and Eaton fires already rank as the most destructive in Los Angeles history. Together, they have burned through about 145 square kilometres of land and destroyed or damaged about 12,000 structures.
Cal Fire is fighting five active wildfires in the Los Angeles area: the Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, Lidia and Kenneth fires. As of Saturday, the Kenneth fire was 80 per cent contained, the Hurst fire was seven per cent contained, and the Lidia fire was 100 per cent contained, according to the Times.
Even as the fires are being fought, investigations have begun. Chief among them is why the Santa Ynez Reservoir in the Palisades was empty and closed for repairs, according to the Times, and why fire hydrants did not have water.
“When a firefighter comes up to a hydrant, we expect there’s going to be water,” Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said, faulting city leadership and citing budget cuts.
California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered a “full independent review” of the city’s utilities on Friday, saying in an open letter the lack of water supplies during the initial fires was “deeply troubling” and that answers were needed to learn “to how that happened.”
President Joe Biden spoke by phone on Saturday with Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and Ventura County Supervisor Kelly Long to discuss the latest updates on the wildfires across Los Angeles, a White House statement said. -Voanews.com