Los Angeles Wildfire Updates: People find solace in cars, shelters, and hotels.

Los Angeles Wildfire Updates: Evacuees Seek Shelter in Cars, Hotels, and Temporary Shelters

Written by: Supriya Kadu

Edited by: Pinky Deshmukh

Last Updated: January 14, 2025

Summary: 24 people died in the fire, and others are still finding places to rest.

As high winds are predicted to return, more firefighters and water tankers gathered in the Los Angeles region Monday, potentially threatening the progress achieved on two large fires that have destroyed thousands of homes and killed 24 people.

Compared to a week ago, when hurricane-force winds fanned many fires around the barren area that hadn't seen rain in more than eight months, Fire Chief Anthony Marrone verified that preparedness had improved.

Residents in high-risk regions were urged by officials to leave immediately if they felt threatened rather than waiting for official orders.

Sheriff Robert Luna said that two dozen people are still missing, and the death toll could rise. Noting ongoing recovery efforts, he asked those who were eager to return to exercise patients.

The housing shortages in one of the most expensive cities in America is being made worse by the tens of thousands of wildfire refugees who are currently urgently trying to find and maintain temporary accommodation.

As a severe fire threat awaits for another week, 105,000 residents in Los Angeles were still under evacuation orders on Monday. The affected were scattered around Southern California, staying in hotel rooms, shelter beds, relatives' spare rooms, and friends' couches, with no idea where they would go next.

For a new rental offering, a real estate agent in the upscale Brentwood community next to the Palisades fire unexpectedly received 1,000 applications.

A family in Pasadena whose house was destroyed in the Eaton fire in Altadena claimed they were going to have to give up the emergency short-term rental they had been using since the fires to a family who was prepared to pay $8,000 per month.