L.A. Fires Death Toll Rises to 30 After Remains Are Found
The discovery makes the Palisades and Eaton fires, combined, the second-deadliest wildfires in California’s history.Nearly three months after the January wildfires in Los Angeles, investigators discovered human remains in a burned lot on Wednesday in Altadena, Calif., raising the total death toll from the fires to 30.The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office said a six-person team was sent to Altadena to investigate a report of possible remains. The team later confirmed the remains were human. The discovery came 12 weeks after the Eaton fire broke out on the evening of Jan. 7, burning more than 14,000 acres and destroying more than 9,000 structures.The remains found on Wednesday raised the death toll of the Eaton fire to 18 people. To the west in Pacific Palisades, 12 people died in the Palisades fire, which burned more than 23,000 acres and destroyed more than 6,000 structures.With their combined death toll at 30, the two fires make up the second-deadliest wildfire in California history. The Camp fire, which killed 85 people in Northern California in 2018, has the largest death toll in state wildfire history, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.Even separately, the Eaton and Palisades fires rank among the deadliest in California. The Palisades fire is the ninth deadliest and the Eaton fire is the fifth deadliest, according to state records.The death toll from the Eaton and Palisades fires could continue to grow. It was unclear how many people who were reported missing at the time of the fires were still missing. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department did not immediately provide an updated figure on Thursday.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More