Los Angeles wildfires: Fresh evacuations ordered Friday evening after Palisades Fire flares up

The Kenneth fire, which started earlier this week near Calabasas, California, is now 90% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, as wildfires continue to impose devastation on Southern California.

The fire has burned more than 1,000 acres, but there are no reports of property damage, according to The Los Angeles Times.

President-elect Trump criticized California politicians on Sunday, claiming they "have no idea" how to put out the wildfires sweeping through the southern part of the state.

"The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

"Thousands of magnificent houses are gone, and many more will soon be lost," he continued. "There is death all over the place. This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country. They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?"

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, told residents that the city will get through the crisis caused by wildfires sweeping through Southern California, stressing that "we will rebuild an amazing city."

A grinning Bass emphasized in a video posted to X the importance of sticking together amid the devastation to rebuild Los Angeles, which she called "one of the greatest cities in the world."

"Angelenos, we're still going through it. And to any of you and all of you that have experienced a loss, the grief, the anger, the just utter shock. I've seen the devastation. It is unbelievable the amount of loss that people have experienced. But we have to get through this crisis, and I know that we will," Bass said.

"I was at the Sylmar command post today, and I saw the work of our first responders and how they've been able to defeat the fires in certain areas," she continued. "We know we still have much more to go and we know the winds are gonna kick up again, but we gotta stick together, we gotta stand strong, and then we have to rebuild our city."

The mayor added: "We're the nation's second largest city, one of the greatest cities in the world, and we stay together and we will rebuild an amazing city."

Bass concluded by offering thoughts and prayers to everyone suffering "unbelievable loss and pain."

A survivor of the devastating Eaton Fire that devastated the Altadena area of Los Angeles County recently spoke up about his experience fighting the inferno.

Justin Christie, a resident of Altadena, spoke with Fox News Digital on Saturday afternoon about his experience. As of Saturday evening, the Eaton Fire, which began on Tuesday, is only 15% contained.

Christie explained that his family has lived in the area since 1967, and had never seen anything as destructive as the Eaton Fire before.

"[I've seen] tons of fires on this hillside," Christie recalled. "When I saw this, when I came out in the street and I saw the flames up on the hillside, something just told me this was different."

"I really got frightened, and I started to think [about] what I needed to do to prepare for it."

Christie said that he was especially alarmed after seeing one of his palm trees catch on fire, which had never happened before. He quickly got all of his family members into his car and drove them away from the scene.

"I've never, in all the fires, never had one of our trees catch on fire," he said. "And that was the one that really said, okay…we're in big trouble."

Fox News' Andrea Margolis and Sophia Compton contributed to this report.

Members of Congress from California on Saturday toured the ruins in Altadena and northern Pasadena caused by the still-raging Eaton Fire.

Rep. Judy Chu, whose congressional district includes the communities most impacted by the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles County, led Members of Congress from California on a tour of destroyed neighborhoods and streets.

The Eaton Fire expanded to more than 14,100 acres with 15% containment, Cal Fire reported Saturday night. About 7,000 structures have been scorched.

"I was so grateful to my colleagues in Congress from California who were able to drop everything and demonstrate to Los Angeles County and the entire nation that we as Californians have each other’s backs," Chu wrote in a statement released after the tour.

Fox News' Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.

The death toll in connection with the wildfires sweeping through Southern California has jumped to 16, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner.

Homicide detectives have still been unable to reach thousands of piles of rubble because of recuperated gas lines and debris, Fox Weather reported.

Trump tribute songwriter Jon Kahn told Fox News @ Night on Saturday that when he evacuated from his Pacific Palisades home this week “no part of me believe that when I drove away that my house would be gone.”

He said he has dealt with fires before in Pacific Palisades, but he never had to evacuate.

“For my house to burn the entire city of the Palisades would have to be decimated and unbelievably that’s exactly what happened,” he told Fox News’ Trace Gallagher.

He said he drove to his father’s house, six miles away, which took him two and a half hours to get there in the emergency evacuation situation, and by the time he remotely looked at the footage from his front door’s Ring camera, his fence was on fire.

“I’m so moved by the generosity and the outpouring of love that people have shown,” he told Gallagher. “It’s really a testament to the human spirit. I don’t think a lot of people are really talking about that now due to the magnitude of these fires, but no less than 30 people have said ‘Come stay with me.’”

Kahn wrote the song “Fighter" last summer, about President-elect Trump’s assassination attempt.

Democratic Sen. Ed Markey on Saturday said that the destruction caused by the Southern California wildfires is “what a climate emergency looks like.”

Throwing blame on the president-elect, he wrote on X:  "Trump has been bought for $1 billion by Big Oil. Just a payoff to kill the IRA and the Green New Deal. We know what will happen. More fires, more climate disasters, more death. The LA fires are preview of coming atrocities," Markey declared in a post on X.

Trump will take office on Jan. 20.

In response, incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: "In his first term, President Trump advanced conservation and environmental stewardship while promoting economic growth for families across the country.”

Fox News' Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.

The Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades remains unharmed by the Palisades Fire, Katherine E. Fleming, CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust told Fox News Digital on Saturday.

“It was a watchful but fortunately uneventful night up here at the Getty Center. We’ve been told to anticipate stronger winds later in the day and are closely monitoring the situation,” Fleming said. “Our galleries are safe and protected. Aside from a few hot spots, the Villa remains stable. We continue to be acutely aware of our Getty neighbors and hope for their safety, and that of the whole region. We will keep you updated on the evolving situation.”

The museum, which houses ancient Greek and Roman art, was designed with double walls in the galleries and staff members have consistently been clearing brush as part of their fire mitigation efforts, the museum said.

Employees from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) appeared on "Fox Report" Saturday night to share their experience through the southern California wildfires that impacted their workplace in La Cañada Flintridge.

JPL employee Jason Rhodes told Fox News host Jon Scott that he "didn't get very much notice at all" about evacuations. He credited his colleague Alina Kiessling for urging him to prepare to evacuate.

"Alina, to her credit, said she really thought that we needed to get a bag ready," Rhodes recalled. "And I said, okay, let's get a bag ready. And then our power went out."

Alina added that JPL employees are working around-the-clock to make sure their facilities are being protected from the fires.

"People have been working very hard at JPL to ensure that that those world-class facilities are protected," Kiessling said. "And and at this stage, I think that that things are looking okay. But there are hundreds of people, if not more, within JPL who have been displaced and who have also lost their homes, just like us friends and colleagues."

Despite thousands of people losing their homes in the wildfires this week, actor James Woods was among those whose house was spared in Pacific Palisades.

"A miracle has happened," Woods wrote on X, alongside a video of the view from his deck. "We managed to get to our property and our home that we were told is gone forever is still standing. In this hellish landscape, ‘standing’ is relative, but smoke and other damage is not like the utter destruction around us."

He added in another post: “So many beautiful messages from all of you. I’m so happy and grateful, but, honestly, the entire area looks like the dark side of the moon. It’s so fundamentally gut-wrenching and upsetting, it’s almost hard to celebrate the joyous news that our home survived."

Jennifer Garner, who also lives in Pacific Palisades, returned to the area after evacuating to support her neighbors. He house survived the fires as well.

"My heart bleeds for my friends," Garner said. "I mean, I can think of 100 families, and there are 5,000 homes lost. I can — without even [thinking] — I could just write out a list of 100 friends who lost their homes.

"I feel almost guilty walking through my house," she added. "You know, what can I do? How can I help? What can I offer? What do I have to offer with these hands and these walls and the safety that I have?"

The "Alias" alum teared up as she revealed that one of her friends had died in the wildfires.

"I did lose a friend, and for our church, it's really tender. So, I don't feel like we should talk about it yet," Garner said. "I did lose a friend. She didn't get out in time."

Fox News' Ashley Hume contributed to this report.

The Los Angeles County of Parks and Recreation will start providing Care Camps for kids and teens under evacuation or who are significantly impacted by the wildfires.

The camps, which will be located in Duarte, Arcadia and La Crescenta, California, “will provide youth and teens with a supportive space for fun and recreation including music, arts and crafts, sports activities and field trips.”

The campers will visit places like the La Brea Tar Pits, the Natural History Museum, and Dodgers Stadium.

Breakfast, snacks and lunch will be provided daily and the teens will also get dinner.

The camps will start on Monday and through the end of the month.

They are Monday through Friday with youth camps for ages 5 to 12 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and teen camps for 12 to 17-year-olds from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Parents/guardians must register campers.

President Biden received another update on the wildfire situation in Southern California on Saturday, a White House official told Fox News.

The official said the U.S. Department of Defense continues to provide support to the firefighting efforts, including overnight infrared imaging for perimeter maps and the deployment of more than 1,000 California National Guard troops – 250 of which have firefighting capabilities.

The DOD is also opening up area military bases as shelters for people displaced by the fires with more than 1,000 beds.

The March Reserve Base has also been established as an incident response area.

As of Saturday morning, more than 16,000 people have registered for the FEMA assistance made available by the President’s Major Disaster Declaration on Wednesday.

Biden also spoke on the phone with local officials on Saturday, including Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and Ventura County Supervisor Kelly Long, the official said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Saturday that firefighters from Mexico are assisting the first responders battling the wildfires in SoCal.

In a post on X, Newsom shared a video of a plane sporting a Mexican flag on the runway of LAX.

"Firefighters from Mexico just arrived at LAX. They'll be joining 14,000+ personnel already battling the #PalisadesFire," the post read.

"California is immensely grateful to our neighbors' support in the fight against the wildfires in Los Angeles."

The update came as eight additional U.S. states assist CAL FIRE with battling the wildfires. The states include Washington state, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Colorado and New Mexico, plus Texas and the Canadian province of British Columbia.

"California has expanded its response efforts, welcoming assistance from Texas, Canada, and Mexico to join neighboring states already providing critical support in battling the Southern California wildfires," CAL FIRE said in an X post Saturday. "These reinforcements are crucial not only for containment efforts but also to provide much-needed relief to the brave firefighters on the frontlines."

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., joined "Fox News Live" on Saturday to examine the cost of the ongoing Southern California wildfires.

Speaking to host Arthel Neville, Sherman called the wildfires "the most expensive fire[s] in American history."

"We're going to have to to persuade our colleagues to provide the funds necessary so that we can rebuild the community," the Democrat explained. "And when we rebuild it, we've got to make sure that all the build buildings are up to the highest fire safety code, which unfortunately, they weren't."

Moderate to locally strong Santa Ana winds in Los Angeles and Ventura counties combined with dry air and vegetation will create periods of elevated and critical fire risk through at least Wednesday, the National Weather Service Los Angeles said in a Friday update.

Firefighters continue to battle several wildfires in the region, which first sparked on Tuesday and has left at least 11 people dead and thousands homeless.

A victim who died in a Malibu home on Pacific Coast Highway as the Palisades Fire closed in has been identified as Randall Miod, Fox News' Bill Melugin has learned.

While his roommates evacuated, Miod decided to stay behind to defend his home and protect his kitten, but he was overwhelmed by the flames, a close friend said.

Miod had lived in the home for 30 years.

His family has been notified.

The still raging wildfires have destroyed more than 12,300 homes and buildings and left at least 11 dead, a number officials said they expect to rise.

Pope Francis is praying for the victims of the wildfires and for an end to the destruction, the Vatican said on Saturday.

"Saddened by the loss of life and the widespread destruction caused by the fires near Los Angeles, His Holiness Pope Francis assures you and the community affected by this tragedy of his spiritual closeness," the Archbishop of Los Angeles, Jose H. Gomez, said in a statement shared by the pontiff.

It continued, “Entrusting the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of Almighty God, His Holiness sends his heartfelt condolences to those who mourn their loss. He likewise prays for the relief efforts of the emergency services personnel, and imparts his blessing to all as a pledge of consolation and strength in the Lord.”

Los Angeles has the largest Catholic archdiocese in the country, with more than five million members, according to the LA Catholics website. 

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Saturday that he has activated 1,680 National Guard service members to battle the ongoing wildfires.

The new move "doubles the CalGuard boots on the ground," according to the governor's office.

“We are continuing to rush in resources to rapidly respond to the firestorm in Los Angeles fueled by hurricane-force winds," Newsom said in a statement. "The men and women of the California National Guard are working day and night to help Los Angeles residents during their greatest time of need. We are grateful for their continued bravery and commitment to be of service to others.”