California wildfires: How looters are ransacking houses amid the deadly blazes

Skies over Los Angeles continue to remain a dystopian orange and plumes of smoke continue to arise from the area as wildfires continue to rage since they first broke out on Tuesday (January 7). At least seven people have died so far, with officials expecting the toll to rise and more than 10,000 structures being reduced to ashes.

Amid this devastation, some residents are refusing to heed the calls for evacuation. Why? Because they fear that their homes will be looted.

Twenty people have already been arrested on suspicion of raiding homes in southern California amid the blazes with California Governor Gavin Newsom saying, “looting will not be tolerated”.

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What do we know of the looting? What are residents doing about it? We have the answers.

Looting amid the wildfires

As the wildfires continue to rage across Los Angeles, reducing everything in its way to ashes, local media has been reporting of some individuals taking to looting homes. Local news reporter Haley Winslow, who’s been reporting from the Eaton fire, said, “It has turned into the wild west here. It is just complete insanity on all corners.”

“Police are doing the best they can. However, they are seeing people walking away with large televisions, just taking advantage of what little this town has left,” she added.

Elsewhere, Arturo Garcia, who has been hired to stand guard outside a mansion in the affluent area of Pacific Palisades , also reported that he seen looting. He said that he and his partner caught one man leaving a house with a luxury bag filled with a drone and a toy car.

Other residents have also recounted witnessing people taking to looting at this time. Allison Agsten, a local, told KTLA, “We just started seeing all these cars pull up, doors open, groups of men running up our street, going up to the doors of these houses.”

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On Thursday (January 9), Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna addressed the looting taking place amid the wildfires, telling reporters that at least 20 people had been arrested on looting charges and warned others to stay out of evacuated homes.

“Over last night and this morning, we are up to 20 – 20 – individuals who chose to go into our areas and deprive these poor people who have been through so much of their property,” he said. “Absolutely unacceptable, and I’m going to give direction to our department members… When we have an evacuation order, by law, if you remain in that area, you are guilty of a misdemeanour. If you commit certain crimes, it could jump up to a felony. I’m going to be asking our employees to start enforcing that.”

He vowed to crack down harshly on the criminals, saying, “We’re not going to tolerate that kind of activity. We have substantially increased our deployment of deputies.”

Even LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger lamented the incidents of looting. She called the looters “opportunists,” adding, “I will not stand by and allow an already traumatic experience to be further compounded.”

Similarly, LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman also condemned the incidents of theft. “If you want to go ahead and loot, if you want to commit burglary, if you want to engage in grand theft, if you want to engage in internet scams where you are going to be taking advantage of people who are going to be seeking insurance and government benefits, you will be arrested and you will be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” he was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles Times.

Private security to curb looting

In an attempt to prevent such incidents, some residents of Los Angeles have taken to hiring private security. In fact, Herman Weisberg, the managing director of SAGE Intelligence, said that private security firms are slammed with requests for help.

These private contractors have said that their demand has increased in the last few days. However, they are having to turn down business as they don’t have the resources. As Weisberg explained in a Fox News report, “We are slammed. We’ve already pretty much committed all the assets I have in California to various assignments, but we’re trying to mobilise some more out of towners, which has its own issues.”

Looting amid natural disasters

Reports of looting amid the wildfires bring up past memories of theft and burglaries during past storms in the US. Remember, there were reports of mass thefts and burglaries during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Several videos and images emerged at the time, showing people wading out in thigh-high floodwaters with armloads of clothing and trashcans full of goods.

Even as people struggled to pick up the pieces of their lives in Florida after Hurricane Milton struck Florida last October, reports of wide-scale looting was reported. This had prompted Florida Govenor Ron DeSantis to say, “I would probably say here, you loot, we shoot, you never know what’s behind that door. If you go breaking into somebody’s house and you are trying to loot, these are people that are going to be able to defend themselves and their families.”

Wildfires refuse to simmer down

The wildfires raging across Los Angeles are nowhere close to being contained and they continue on their path of destruction. At least seven people have died and over 10,000 structures have been burnt down.

In the past 24 hours, Accuweather has nearly tripled its preliminary estimate for total damage from the wildfires. Its latest projection says losses could amount to as much as $150 billion. That’s revised from an estimate of up to $57 billion yesterday. The insurance industry is also bracing for a major hit, with analysts from firms such as Morningstar and JP Morgan forecasting insured losses of more than $8 billion.

According to officials, the Palisades and Eaton fire have been contained six and zero per cent respectively, while the Sunset fire that has been menacing the well-known Hollywood Hills area has started to shrink.

Many Hollywood celebrities, including Paris Hilton , have also lost their million-dollar mansions in the blazes.

In response to the situation, US President Joe Biden said he will send every federal resource possible to southern California, including hundreds of firefighters, 30 firefighting aircraft, eight defence aircraft and 500 military personal. Moreover, he has cancelled his visit to Italy in order to monitor the situation. Even Vice President Kamala Harris has called of her trip to Singapore, Bahrain and Germany.

With inputs from agencies