LA reflects on what wildfires have destroyed while looking to prepare for future disasters

Geoff Bennett:

Welcome to the "News Hour."

Firefighters are making progress in the battle against a series of catastrophic wildfires around Los Angeles. But new blazes have popped up and more than 10,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed.

Amna Nawaz:

At least 10 people have been killed, and there's still more danger ahead, with winds expected to pick up once again this weekend.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state will conduct an inquiry into the many questions about water supply that left some hydrants unusable.

Stephanie Sy begins our coverage with this on-the-ground report.

Stephanie Sy:

Winds started to ease today, giving firefighters a window to continue making progress on fires that burned for a fourth day around Los Angeles.

The Eaton Fire northeast of the city and the Palisades Fire to the West are the largest. But others have continued to pop up, including the Kenneth Fire in the San Fernando Valley. That fire prompted evacuations last night and burned about 1,000 acres before firefighters brought it under control overnight.

Officials warn, more than 57,000 structures remain at risk. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass defended the city's response.

Karen Bass (D), Mayor of Los Angeles, California: We are doing everything we can to bring the situation under control, and success has been reported. That is our number one job, to protect people's homes, to protect people's businesses, and to prepare to rebuild Los Angeles in a much better way.

Lauren Cynkar, Palisades Fire Evacuee:

But I also knew, with the way that the wind was, that things could change on a dime.

Stephanie Sy:

On Tuesday, Lauren Cynkar saw plumes of smoke coming over her house in Malibu. She quickly fled with her husband and watched through their security camera as the flames crept closer and closer before the feed went black. She hasn't been back to her property yet, but neighbors have sent photos that show what remains of her house.

Lauren Cynkar:

It's been a very strange couple, few days, really surreal at times, and then, other times, like, just deeply devastating. But it hasn't just happened to me, it's happened to so many people.

So, with that perspective, I think I have been able to sort of carry on, but then there are other moments where I'm like, I have nothing. Like, everything we had is gone, except for the few stupid things that we grabbed on the way out.

Stephanie Sy:

They have been staying at a hotel, trying to figure out what comes next, and reflecting on the community they have lost.

Lauren Cynkar:

It's a really paralyzing time right now too. You don't really know which way to go. One of the things that has really kind of hurt my heart a little bit is, it seems that people view the Palisades and Malibu as just like an enclave for celebrities who can afford to use their millions to rebuild in silly places and go about their lives.

But my experience of our neighborhood is very different, people that have been there their whole lives. These are real people that have lost everything that are going to have a really hard time for the next months and years ahead.

Traci Park, Los Angeles, California, City Councilmember:

We are getting our first real look at the extent of the devastation here in Pacific Palisades.

Stephanie Sy:

Traci Park represents Pacific Palisades in the Los Angeles City Council.

Traci Park:

What happened in the Palisades over the last several days was not unpredictable. We already know, when there's a wildfire event, our communication systems go down.

We already know that, during evacuation processes, we have traffic bottlenecks. So to see those same issues repeat in what has now become the most devastating natural disaster in Los Angeles history is incredibly frustrating.

Stephanie Sy:

Park says the L.A. Fire Department's budget is inadequate for today's needs.

Traci Park:

We have about the same number of firefighters and fire stations in the city of Los Angeles that we had 60 years ago, but our demands for service have tripled.

Stephanie Sy:

There's four million people here.

Traci Park:

There's four million people in the city of Los Angeles. We have about a hundred fire engines and ambulances out of service sitting in the maintenance yard.

Stephanie Sy:

Why? Why is this the case?

Traci Park:

Because they don't have enough mechanics.

And here in the city of Los Angeles, we need at least 62 new fire stations to meet average daily demand in our city, not five, not 10, not 25, 62. I hope that this is a wakeup call to all of the leadership in the city of Los Angeles that this chronic underinvestment in critical infrastructure and public safety cannot continue. This has got to be our number one priority going forward.

Stephanie Sy:

With more than 150,000 people still under evacuation orders, L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said a nighttime curfew would resume tonight in those areas.

Robert Luna, Los Angeles County, California, Sheriff:

We're not doing this to inconvenience anybody. We're doing it to protect the structures, the houses that people have left, because we ordered them to leave, and I want them to feel confident that we are doing everything we can to secure that.

Stephanie Sy:

At least 20 arrests have been made for looting or thefts already, according to the county sheriff. And in addition to local law enforcement, National Guard troops are now patrolling streets.

In a briefing today in the Oval Office, President Joe Biden got an update on the fires and said his administration is working with president-elect Trump's team.

Joe Biden, President of the United States: They know every single thing we're doing about the response.

Stephanie Sy:

Back in Los Angeles, Councilmember Traci Park laments the future of the Pacific Palisades, since many residents, especially those who were under- or un-insured, may never be able to rebuild.

Traci Park:

I think the reality here is the Palisades is probably going to look and feel different. That's probably inevitable, as people decide whether to rebuild, what to rebuild. And I think it also raises really important questions for our city about densification in areas that are prone to natural disasters.

Stephanie Sy:

"The Palisades are gone." That is a direct quote from the councilwoman we introduced you to in the piece, and you can see the destruction behind me.

Of course, there are a few pockets even in this neighborhood where, miraculously, some homes were completely untouched. But the councilwoman told us there is not a single elementary school in the Pacific Palisades that is still standing. She also said there is not a lot to come back to. The water is unusable and the air is toxic — Amna, back to you.

Amna Nawaz:

So many layers of devastation there.

And, Stephanie, on top of all this, we know California has an insurance crisis essentially. How does that play into the rebuilding efforts ahead?

Stephanie Sy:

There are countless residents in the Pacific Palisades that are either not insured at all or underinsured, and that's because a lot of insurance companies simply refuse to provide fire insurance to homeowners here, knowing this is a high-risk wildfire area.

So, some residents, including the couple we spoke to this morning, say that they have a California-coordinated insurance plan of last resort. That is a very expensive plan. Not everybody has it. And they are almost surely not going to recover enough funds to rebuild.

So that is a real concern, what the Pacific Palisades will look like going ahead. The councilwoman said to us that Los Angeles did not have the resources to fight this fire alone and they will not have the resources to rebuild and recover alone.

Amna Nawaz:

Stephanie Sy reporting on those devastating wildfires in California.

Stephanie, thank you to you and the team.

Stephanie Sy:

Thank you.