Leonardo DiCaprio donates a million dollars to the fires

Support operations for the population of Los Angeles, affected by monster fires, are increasing, with the authorities offering all kinds of facilities, from replacing driving licenses to reimbursement of hotel bills.

Private initiatives also continue to flourish, with thousands of volunteers still busy managing food, clothing and children’s product donation centers for disaster victims.

Leonardo DiCaprio, who resides in Malibu, announced a donation of one million dollars in partnership with the NGO Rewild: “The fires are destroying our city,” the actor wrote on Instagram. The initial assistance will immediately benefit the LA Fire Department Foundation, California Fire Foundation, World Central Kitchen, California Community Foundation, Pasadena Humane Society and SoCal Fire Fund, organizations that provide much-needed resources to our first responders and firefighters, as well as the people, animals and communities who need it most.”

Actresses Jamie Lee Curtis and Eva Longoria had already pledged identical sums to help the victims.

The city benefited from a bit of respite on Wednesday with a lull in the winds fanning the flames which have killed at least 24 people in the second largest city in the United States. Firefighters are still trying to contain these fires which could be the costliest ever recorded in the United States with a toll now estimated at $275 billion.

The damage is considerable: more than 12,000 homes, other buildings and vehicles were destroyed or damaged and entire neighborhoods razed. And thousands of people remain displaced.

Forecasters nevertheless see a way out, as breezes are expected to bring necessary moisture in the coming days, the US Weather Service (NWS) said.

The situation will experience “a marked improvement tonight and tomorrow” on Thursday, even if it will remain “worrying” in certain areas, Ryan Kittell of NWS told AFP, adding however that the start of next week could be drier. The two main outbreaks which devastated the upscale district of Pacific Palisades and the city of Altadena, covering more than 16,000 hectares in total, were still smoldering on Wednesday.

“Infrared flights showed last night that there were several hot spots remaining,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley.

Battalions of firefighters from across the United States, but also from Mexico, are trying to “quickly deal with any outbreaks to prevent the fire from spreading outside the perimeter,” she added.

After climbing Tuesday evening to 25 deaths, the toll from the fires was revised to 24, the medical examiner having explained that one of the remains initially recorded was not that of a human being. He is investigating a possible other death. But the number of victims could rise further, with hundreds of buildings still to be searched.

Life is far from having returned to normal in the City of Angels. Children from evacuated families, or whose school was damaged, were welcomed in other establishments.

“They need to be here drawing, coloring, playing, running and laughing,” said Caroline Nick, who took her two children to a school in west Los Angeles after theirs burned down.

“They don’t need to listen to the adult conversations my husband and I have to have. It’s not good for them,” said the stay-at-home mom, who lost her home in the fire that devastated Pacific Palisades.

Federal authorities have launched an investigation to determine the causes of these fires, which are the subject of numerous theories.

“We know that everyone wants answers and people deserve answers,” said Jose Medina of the US federal agency responsible for enforcing laws on weapons, explosives, tobacco and alcohol. (ATF), in charge of the investigation. “We will give you these answers, but only after we have completed our in-depth research.”