Wildfires latest: Final round of dangerous fire weather, dry conditions in forecast

Los Angeles — Millions of Southern Californians remain on edge as winds began picking up during a final round of dangerous fire weather forecast for the region Wednesday where two massive blazes have killed at least 25 and destroyed thousands of homes.

A day after firefighters got a reprieve with lighter winds than expected, gusts were hitting up to 35 mph on the coast and valleys and 55 mph in the mountains before dawn, National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Hall said.

Here's the latest:

FEMA delivers cash assistance to affected households

About 40,000 people have applied for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has already disbursed more than $8 million for immediate needs like water, food, baby formula and gas. The initial money goes directly into bank accounts, regional FEMA administrator Robert J. Fenton, Jr. said Tuesday, denying misinformation about vouchers.

President Joe Biden did say that the federal government would pay 100% of the firefighting and recovery costs in the first 180 days. But that doesn’t mean FEMA will cover 100% of individual families’ costs — the maximum amount FEMA can provide is $43,600, Fenton said.

Representatives from FEMA, the Small Business Administration, the state and several charities gathered to explain the process at a disaster recovery center at UCLA Research Park West and Pasadena City College Community Education Center.

FEMA offers up to $770 to help cover the evacuees’ immediate needs, but its larger grants generally aren’t available until after insurance companies pay out. Someone who receives a maximum grant from FEMA might be eligible for another $10,000 grant from the state.

For other needs beyond what insurance and FEMA cover, the Small Business Administration offers low-interest loans: Businesses can borrow up to $2 million, while homeowners can borrow up to $500,000 for rebuilding and another $100,000 for personal property.

Fire tornadoes are a risk under California’s extreme wildfire conditions

As if they aren’t already facing enough, firefighters in California also could encounter fire tornadoes — a rare but dangerous phenomenon in which wildfires create their own weather.

The National Weather Service warned Tuesday that the combination of high winds and severely dry conditions have created a “particularly dangerous situation” in which any new fire could explode in size. The advisory, which runs into Wednesday, didn’t mention tornadoes, but meteorologist Todd Hall said they’re possible given the extreme conditions.

As Los Angeles burns, Hollywood’s Oscar season turns into a pledge drive

When the Palisades Fire broke out in Los Angeles last Tuesday, Hollywood’s awards season was in full swing. The Golden Globes had transpired less than 48 hours earlier and a series of splashy awards banquets followed in the days after.

But the enormity of the destruction in Southern California has quickly snuffed out all festiveness in the movie industry’s high season of celebration. At one point, the flames even encroached on the hillside above the Dolby Theatre, the home of the Academy Awards.

The fires have struck at the very heart of a movie industry still trying to stabilize itself after years of pandemic, labor turmoil and technological upheaval. Not for the first time this decade, the Oscars are facing the question of: Should the show go on? And if it does, what do they mean now?

The Oscars remain as scheduled, but it’s certain that they will be transformed due to the wildfires, and that most of the red-carpet pomp that typically stretches between now and then will be curtailed if not altogether canceled. With so many left without a home by the fires, there’s scant appetite for the usual self-congratulatory parades of the season.

Relief, 21st-century style: As wildfires burn, GoFundMe becomes a repository of harrowing stories

As California’s massive wildfires burn, a barrage of GoFundMe campaigns for victims have become an outlet for onlookers transfixed by the blazes and eager to do something to help. Those appeals for help — plastered with photos of saffron flames or the charcoal aftermath or, most of all, the faces of the people at the center of the plea — are personalizing a tragedy too big to comprehend.

“I feel connected in a strange way to all these people that I don’t know,” says Rachel Davies, a 27-year-old writer in New York, who went through hundreds of GoFundMe’s wildfire campaigns and felt drawn in to stories of strangers, donating to fundraisers for landscapers, housekeepers and a cook.

Davies was moved by the little details of victims’ stories — like the fact that someone lost their home just as they were bringing a baby home from the hospital — and compiled and circulated a list of GoFundMe sites, thinking others would feel the same and be spurred to donate.

“Those stories,” Davies says, “will stick with me.”

Copyright Associated Press