California wildfires cast shadow over LA 2028 Olympic plans
Devastating fires raise safety concerns for key Olympic venues and long-term preparations.
Smoke from the Palisades Fire rises over the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California on 11 January 2025. The Palisades Fire, the largest of the Los Angeles fires, spread toward previously untouched neighborhoods 11 January, forcing new evacuations and dimming hopes that the disaster was coming under control. Across the city, at least 11 people have died as multiple fires have ripped through residential areas since 7 January, razing thousands of homes in destruction that US President Joe Biden likened to a "war scene." News of the growing toll, announced late Thursday, 9 January by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, came as swaths of the United States' second-largest city lay in ruins.
Agustin PAULLIER / AFP