As residents continue returning to the Palisades and Eaton burn areas, authorities are urging them to be aware of potential health hazards and wear masks, gloves and other protective gear if they are digging through rubble, noting the toxic nature of wildfire ash and other debris.County public health officials are distributing personal protective equipment to those who need it. Nightly curfew orders remain in effect from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the burn areas in an effort to restrict unnecessary access and prevent looting.
Checkpoints restricting access to the fire-ravaged Pacific Palisades will also remain in place.Pacific Coast Highway reopened on Monday, but travel was reduced to one lane in each direction between McClure Tunnel and Carbon Beach Terrace with the speed reduced to 25 mph. Returning Palisades residents were instructed to obtain an access pass by checking in with law enforcement at the Lot 3 Beach Access, 1150 Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica.
Private contractors hired by residents are also being permitted into the burn area, but will also need access passes. The California Highway Patrol and the National Guard patrolled the Palisades area , taking over from the Los Angeles Police Department and allowing its officers to focus on the remainder of the city. Both the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire in the Altadena and Pasadena areas, which erupted on Jan. 7, are now fully contained, according to CalFire.
Another Southland blaze that broke out later in January, the Hughes Fire in the Castaic Lake area, burned 10,425 acres and was fully contained last Friday, the agency said. The Eaton Fire caused at least 17 deaths, destroyed 9,418 structures and damaged 1,073 more while burning 14,021 acres. Repopulation efforts there have been completed. At least 12 people were killed in the Palisades Fire, which burned 23,448 acres, destroyed 6,837 structures and damaged 1,017 others.
The cause of both fires, which began while the region was under a red flag warning for critical fire danger due to a historic wind event that saw gusts of 80 to 100 mph, remains under investigation. The Los Angeles County Office of Medical Examiner has positively identified 18 of the 29 people confirmed dead in the two wildfires. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency crews continue working to identify and remove hazardous waste from properties scorched by the fires.
Questions continued to linger about exactly how long it would take for residents to begin the rebuilding process, but county and federal officials said Wednesday the process was being expedited as much as possible. The first phase of the cleanup effort — the removal of hazardous materials from properties in the burn area — was underway, with the EPA tasked with completing the work within 30 days. Status updates on the EPA’s work, including an interactive map of individual fire-affected properties, are available online at epa.gov/ca/2025-california-wildfires.
Officials urged other residents to complete the forms as soon as possible so the Army Corps can quickly begin the debris-clearance work after the EPA completes its work on individual properties, in what is considered Phase 2 of the cleanup work. Residents have until March 31 to complete the forms, which are available online at recovery.lacounty.gov/debris-removal/ or at any FEMA Disaster Recovery Center.
FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers are open at UCLA Research Park West, 10850 W. Pico Blvd., and in Altadena at 540 W. Woodbury Road, to assist homeowners with applying for aid. The centers are open daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. The deadline for fire victims to apply for FEMA financial relief is March 10. According to the county, FEMA has already approved more than $54 million in housing and other assistance for 24,575 households. More than 117,200 individuals have registered for FEMA assistance.
Meanwhile, the city of Pasadena is set to resume parking enforcement in residential areas on Monday for street sweeping, oversized vehicles, and 72-hour limits. Enforcement for streets where a permit is required will resume on Feb.17, and enforcement for overnight parking will resume on March 1.
The Rev. Al Sharpton announced that he will travel to Pasadena on Thursday to lead a noontime memorial service and rally for victims of the devastating Los Angeles County wildfires. The civil rights leader will appear with attorney Ben Crump, who represents relatives of several Southern Californians killed in the blazes.
The service will be at First AME Church at 1700 N. Raymond Ave. in Pasadena, and will also include Pastor Larry Campbell. Multiple lawsuits have been filed accusing Southern California Edison power lines for sparking the Eaton Fire. The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that investigators on the Palisades Fire believe there was a human element to the fire, including the possibility it began with a flare-up of a New Year’s Day fire that was believed to have been doused. By the time all the damage is assessed, the fires are expected to constitute the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.
