Elapses size of San Francisco: LA fires carve mark on history

Even as four wildfires continued to burn in Los Angeles County on Thursday, the blazes were already rewriting the record books.

Over the last nine days, seven fires have broken out across the nation’s second-largest metropolitan region, ravaging a combined area bigger than the 40 square miles that comprise the city of San Francisco and nearly twice the size of Manhattan, New York. An eighth fire ignited Monday night near Oxnard in neighboring Ventura County, but fire crews held it to 61 acres.

The two biggest infernos, the Palisades and the Eaton fires, are now among the most destructive blazes in California history, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

Tune into “Good Morning America” on Friday, Jan. 17, as ABC News and ABC owned stations kick off “SoCal Strong” (#SoCalStrong) coverage in support of Los Angeles-area communities amid the devastating wildfires. Coverage continues across ABC News programs and platforms.

As of Thursday morning, the Eaton Fire, which has burned 14,117 acres and destroyed more than 7,000 structures, was the second most destructive fire in state history behind the 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California’s Butte County, which consumed 153,336 acres and leveled 18,804 structures, according to Cal Fire.

The Palisades Fire has surged to fourth on Cal Fire’s list of most destructive wildfires in the Golden State after destroying more than 5,000 structures and burning 23,713 acres of drought-parched land.

The 62 square miles comprising the fire zones are just a part of the 4,083 square miles that make up all of LA County.

Regarding the death toll from the fires, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner is investigating 16 deaths in connection with the Eaton Fire. That makes it the fifth deadliest wildfire in state history, leaping over three fires that each caused 15 deaths — the Rattlesnake Fire of 1953 in Northern California, the 2003 Cedar Fire in San Diego, and the 2020 North Complex Fire in Northern California’s Butte, Plumas and Yuba counties.

The medical examiner is investigating nine deaths in connection with the Palisades Fire in the oceanfront community of Pacific Palisades, which ranks 14 on the list of deadliest California wildfires.

The Eaton and Palisades fires…