Curfew, National Guard: What Los Angeles authorities are doing to curb looting amid wildfires

The wind whips embers while firefighters battle the fire in the Angeles National Forest near Mt. Wilson as the wildfires burn in the Los Angeles area. (Courtesy: Reuters photo)

Wildfires continue to rage across Los Angeles which have destroyed over 9,000 thousand homes, buildings and other structures. The flames have claimed the lives of at least 10 people and around 1,30,000 residents are under evacuation orders. According to LA Times, around 5,300 of these structures were destroyed in the Palisades fire, while another 4,000 to 5,000 structures were estimated to be damaged or destroyed in the Eaton fire burning in the Altadena area.

But the worse might not be over yet as experts say Los Angeles is not out of danger yet. The wildfires have the potential to be the costliest wildfire disaster in American history, they believe. AccuWeather, a private company that provides data on weather and its impact, on Thursday increased its estimate of the damage and economic loss to $ 135-$ 150 billion. Previously, the company had estimated the damage could reach $ 57 billion.

As firefighters continue to battle the wildfires and people frantically flee their homes, there have been reports of looting prompting the authorities to call in the National Guard. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna confirmed a nighttime curfew was planned, and the state's National Guard was on hand to patrol affected areas. "The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has officially requested the support of the California National Guard for both fires. They will be assisting us with traffic control and critical infrastructure protection," he said.

According to LA Times, at least 20 people have already been arrested on suspicion of looting during the wildfires raging in Los Angeles. "Over last night and this morning, we are up to 20 individuals who chose to go into our areas and deprive these poor people who have been through so much of their property," Luna said.

Calling it absolutely unacceptable, the Los Angeles County Sheriff said, "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".

Governor Gavin Newsom said everything possible is being done to protect the communities and that looting will not be tolerated at any cost. "We're throwing everything at our disposal including our National Guard service members to protect communities in the days to come. And to those who would seek to take advantage of evacuated communities, let me be clear: looting will not be tolerated," he said.

Earning residents of looters, Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman too vowed to punish them. "While the community rallies to support one another, we are also aware of the individuals who are targeting vulnerable victims to preying on this misfortune, seeking to exploit the vulnerability of those who have already endured so much," he told Fox News.

"Let it be clearly known that those who seek to illegally profit from the pain and suffering of others - whether through looting, fraud, theft, burglary, or any other form of criminal activity -will not go unpunished," the DA added.

President Joe Biden, who has pledged that the federal government will cover 100% of disaster assistance costs to California for the next 180 days, tied the devastating wildfires to human-caused climate change. Describing the current situation as "the most widespread, devastating fire in California's history", he said, "Federal government's going to pay for things like debris and hazard material removal, temporary shelters, first responders salaries, and all of the safety measures to protect life and property".

"I want to underscore, I told the governor and local officials - Spare No Expense. And we're doing literally everything we can at the federal level," the outgoing President added.