The mother of a woman who was killed in the Eaton fire, one of the extensive wildfires that devastated Los Angeles neighborhoods, is lodging a wrongful death lawsuit against Southern California Edison (SCE), the area’s power provider.
Since the fire began on 7 January, at least 13 other lawsuits have been filed against SCE. But this lawsuit, filed on behalf of Altadena resident Evelyn Cathirell, whose daughter Evelyn “Petey” McClendon was found dead in their shared home, appears to be the first death-related one.
The suit was filed on Wednesday by attorney Ben Crump, who has represented people in high-profile civil rights and police killing cases, including that of George Floyd.
As more lawsuits, including one filed by the NAACP, come down, containment of the extensive wildfires in Los Angeles was improving as the extreme winds that made it challenging to fight the fires continued to recede on Friday and gave the city some relief.
Cooler air will continue to bring much-needed humidity to the region over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service’s latest forecast. But dry winds could return late on Monday or early on Tuesday.
The two largest wildfires, the Palisades fire and Eaton fire, have become better contained. As of Friday morning, the Palisades fire was 31% contained and the Eaton fire was 65% contained. Both fires have been burning since 7 January.
The fires’ death toll rose by two on Thursday afternoon, bringing the number of people killed by the fires to 27. Ten were killed in the Palisades fire while 17 were killed in the Eaton fire, according to the LA county medical examiner’s office. Officials said personnel were still working through evacuated neighborhoods and expected the death toll to rise.
The victims include a 95-year-old woman with ties to Hollywood; a 55-year-old surfer who called himself a “Malibu man of mystery”; and a 68-year-old man and his son, both of whom had disabilities and were reportedly waiting for an ambulance when the fire reached them.
Officials are using “cadaver dogs and trying to locate remains and recover them, so that we can be accountable to the families who have missing relatives and do it in the most respectful way possible”, Jim McDonnell, the LA police chief, said. The LA county sheriff’s department told the Los Angeles Times that 31 people remain missing.
The loss of homes and businesses in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods is still being assessed. The Palisades fire has destroyed over 3,500 structures while the Eaton fire has destroyed more than 7,100 structures. The totals will probably rise. Estimates put the total cost of damage at about $250bn.
On Thursday, residents of certain evacuated zones started to return home for the first time since the fires started. Officials have not given a timeline to others as to when they can return, given that the fires are still burning and officials are warning of hazardous debris and toxic waste in many areas. More than 80,000 people remain under evacuation orders, some showing up to checkpoints pleading with officers for a chance to see if their home had survived.
Mark Pestrella, the director of the LA county public works department, said some properties were “full of sediment, debris, silt and hazardous materials” that will take time for officials to clear out.
Experts cautioned that residents sifting through damaged or destroyed properties without proper protection risk inhaling dangerous substances or absorbing them through their skin. Hazards in homes and cars include lead, battery acid, arsenic and carcinogens found in plastics.
“The chance that there are toxic materials derived from things that were safe before the fire is very high,” Chris Field, director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, told the Guardian. “Those toxics layer on top of the risk that already comes from simply being exposed to large amounts of ash and smoke.” He recommended residents wear a well-fitting N-95 mask, goggles and gloves at minimum, and preferably a professional-grade respirator and full-body Tyvek suit.
The city of Pasadena has declared a public health emergency due to the “ash and particulate matter in the air throughout the community”.
Officials are also warning residents who can return to their homes to watch for signs of instability at the base of their properties. The fires appeared to have destabilized the land, particularly in Pacific Palisades, which could lead to dangerous landslides. A home along the beach in the Palisades that was spared from the fires split in half due to a mudslide this week.
“No matter where you live in LA county, if you have slopes behind your homes or you’re located on top of a slope, these slopes have become fragile,” Pestrella said. “There are mud and debris flow hazards that are existing even when it’s not raining, so we want people to be very careful.”
In Altadena, residents have organized hyper-local mutual aid efforts to support each other as they start to reckon with the scale of devastation. Families and educators were also starting to grapple with the fallout from dozens of schools suffering damage or destruction across the fires.
Meanwhile, non-profit groups have been organizing to support undocumented immigrants affected by the fires, many ineligible for federal aid and struggling with losing their jobs and homes while facing threats of deportation as Donald Trump returns to office.
In the Palisades fire, some residents also lost their wildfire insurance last year, raising concerns about the long-term financial impacts for families. LA county’s insurance commissioner said companies are prohibited from canceling or not renewing home coverage for wildfire victims in affected zip codes over the next year.
Associated Press contributed reporting
