Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna urges residents to be patient with local officials as Southern California residents wait for permission to return to their homes after last week's wildfires destroyed tens of thousands of acres of land. asked to do so.
Luna said at a news conference Monday that authorities were still searching for the bodies, a “tough” task that would take time.
“We are still in the third day of grid exploration as far as the Altadena area,” Luna said. “This is a very demanding mission and unfortunately every day we do this we come across individual bodies of local residents.”
“It's not an easy job. It's very sad news. And I believe that not only will the work continue, but we will continue to discover more sites. So please be patient,” he added.
Luna said his staff has been attending community meetings across the county, adding, “We're hearing the voices of the community loud and clear, and we want to get you there as soon as possible.” ” he added.
“People say, 'I just want to go look at my house and see what's left of it.' We know that, but literally looking for your neighbor's body… There are people who are,” Luna said. “Please wait a moment.”
“There are still many dangers in this area,” he continued. “The area is still not safe. Please be patient. And it could be a crime scene, but that doesn't mean it is. There's no going back from there, so we have to think ahead.” Please wait for a while.”
Luna said more than 92,000 people remain under evacuation orders and more than 89,000 people are under evacuation advisories. He said these numbers are lower than in recent days.
The death toll from wildfires rose to 24 this weekend, according to the coroner's office. said Sunday night.
As of Monday afternoon, the Palisades Fire was 14% contained, the Eaton Fire was 33% contained, and the Hearst Fire was 95% contained. In total, about 40,000 acres were burned, according to the California Fire Incident Report.
