LA FIRES UPDATE - JANUARY 15 - UPDATED

The report this morning is the same as yesterday morning, which was the same as Monday morning: dead calm, with a slight 2-3mph breeze occasionally. Friends across the valley report the same. My friend in La Crescenta went a couple miles east yesterday, closer to the Eaton fire and didn’t see anything - the same as I am seeing looking south at the Palisades area, where there is no smoke and clear skies.

The National Weather Service says today that the Santa Ana wind “underperformed” yesterday. They kept a rare "Particularly Dangerous Situation" Red Flag Warning in effect for 3 a.m. local time until 3 p.m. "We are not out of the woods yet," the office said about the latest winds worries.

The death toll is 25 and “expected to go higher.” The LA Sheriff's Department received two new reports of missing people Tuesday, bringing the total number of active cases the county is working on to 26. 20 of the reports came from the Eaton Fire area, and 6 from the Palisades, said Sheriff Robert Luna. The LAPD continues to work 11 missing person cases. The police chief said two of the individuals who haven't been accounted for are likely dead. The city's numbers are unchanged since the chief's last update.

L.A. Sheriff’s deputies have arrested 44 people for crimes linked to the wildfires as of Wednesday. 36 happened in the Eaton Fire area and eight were near the Palisades Fire. 14 other people were taken into custody for burglary. A second person was arrested for impersonating a firefighter for purposes of burglary.

12,000 structures have been destroyed and 60 square miles of mostly urban area has been devastated. The Palisades Fire remains the largest of four currently burning in different sections of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, covering 23,713 acres, according to Cal Fire. The agency says 19% of that blaze is contained early Wednesday, marking steady progress for suppression efforts. The Eaton Fire covers 14,117 acres on the other side of Los Angeles, and crews have managed to contain 45% of the blaze. The smaller Hurst Fire, at 799 acres, is almost entirely under control. In Ventura County, the Auto Fire has engulfed 61 acres since it first broke out Monday night. Cal Fire says 47% of it is contained.

Nearly 20% of the teachers living in the Altadena and Pasadena communities had their living situations impacted by the disastrous Eaton Fire last week, according to union leaders.

I’ll end on an “only in LA” moment: Preston Martin figured his retro blue VW van was a goner, given that he parked it in a Malibu neighborhood just before the Palisades fire ripped through. He was stunned to find he vehicle survived and has become well-known due to a photo taken by an AP photographer was circulating widely on television and online. “There is magic in that van," Martin, 24, said Tuesday in an interview with AP. "It makes no sense why this happened. It should have been toasted, but here we are."

Here it is:

The van’s owner, Megan Krystle Weinraub, said the situation is fitting because her and her friends always refer to it as “the magic bus.”

When Weinraub found out that she had to evacuate the area, she left immediately with her dog and thought the van was a “goner,” she said. After she found out the van was still intact, Weinraub and her friends exclaimed “wow, it is magic,” she said.

UPDATE

There has been progress in containing the wildfires in LA County, but residents should remain vigilant, officials said Wednesday. The real issue is smoldering hot spots that can burn down into the root systems of trees and bushes where fire can linger, authorities said.

As winds continue to weaken across Southern California, the bulk of the red flag warnings – which indicate increased risk of fire danger –have expired across the region, according to the National Weather Service. The final red flag warnings are expected to expire Thursday afternoon.

The strongest Santa Ana winds will finally ease late Wednesday for most of Southern California. The wind direction will change Friday and usher in more moist air that will raise the relative humidity level in the region, and along with weaker winds, will tamp down the fire threat through the weekend. But another batch of Santa Ana winds could develop later Monday and into Tuesday next week.

Crews have been “making good progress” in fighting the deadly Eaton Fire – bringing the 14,117 acre blaze to 45% containment, authorities said Wednesday. Already, the fire has burned nearly 7,000 structures, according to Cal Fire. It has also killed at least 16 people, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office.

The Eaton and Palisades fires are now the most destructive and second-most destructive wildfires, respectively, in Southern California history.

We’re definitely “not out of the woods yet.”

With conditions improving across Southern California Thursday through the weekend, the National Weather Service in Los Angeles is looking ahead to the potential of another Santa Ana Wind Event that may begin early next week. The weather service warns that another round of Santa Ana Winds are set to begin later Monday and into Tuesday. The current preliminary forecast calls for a 60% chance of a red flag warning being issued Monday and a 70% chance of a warning issued on Tuesday. They warn that should this event pan out, wind gusts are most likely to be between 30-50 mph with isolated chances exceeding 50 mph. Along with these winds will come dry air all week with the lowest relative humidities potentially reaching single digits on Monday and Tuesday. Fire weather.