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LA crews race to halt wildfires ahead of high winds

At least 29 people have been arrested for looting in mandatory evacuation zones. Two people were caught posing as firefighters in order to steal from evacuees.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said in a news conference Sunday he had requested more National Guard troops to bolster the 400 already in the area. California Governor Gavin Newsom has since announced that 1,000 additional members of the National Guard would be deployed.

“When I was out there in the Malibu area, I saw a gentleman that looked like a firefighter. And I asked him if he was okay because he was sitting down. I didn’t realise we had him in handcuffs,” Sheriff Luna told reporters.

“We are turning him over to LAPD because he was dressed like a fireman, and he was not. He just got caught burglarising a home. So those are issues that our front-line deputies and police officers are dealing with.”

There are now 14,000 firefighters in the southern California region, being assisted by 84 aircrafts and 1,354 fire engines, said Sheriff Luna.

Evacuation numbers have dropped, with around 105,000 residents still under mandatory evacuation orders and 87,000 under evacuation warnings.

Deanne Criswell, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), told CNN on Sunday that a significant threat remained.

“I know that so many people probably want to get back into the area and check on their homes, but with winds picking back up, you never know which way they’re going to go,” she said.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said that limited access had been allowed to evacuated residents over the weekend, but that his officers are once again barring all residents from returning.

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