Two looters were arrested recently after they dressed as firefighters and entered local homes vacated in the Palisades Fire, according to information given by the Los Angeles Police Department to community members Saturday evening.
Police have arrested dozens of would-be looters who have targeted the affluent Pacific Palisades, devastated by the fire that raged last week. Many neighborhoods were destroyed, but some homes remain intact — enticing looters.
The police said that in addition to twenty looters who had been arrested in the first days of the fire, seven looters had been arrested more recently. Some 400 officers were assigned to the Palisades Fire, which began in the Palisades but has since spread west to Malibu and east to the hills overlooking Bel Air. The blaze has burned 23,654 acres thus far and is only 11% contained, as of Saturday night.
Weather forecasts are ominous, as a strong Santa Ana wind is predicted to return early in the week. Local officials estimate that the winds will be about 60% to 70% as strong as those that spread the fire last Tuesday and Wednesday. Firefighters are racing to stop the advance of the fire before then.
Hundreds of thousands of Angelenos have been displaced by local fires. 16 have died in the fires, including five in the Palisades Fire. Thousands of families have lost their homes and are scrambling to find alternative accommodation.