Death toll from Los Angeles wildfires rises to 30 following discovery of human remains
Vivian Chow
A new death has been confirmed in connection to the devastating Los Angeles wildfires after human remains were discovered Wednesday, raising the death toll to 30.
Crews from the L.A. County Medical Examiner’s Office’s Special Operations Response Team investigated the remains found on the 900 block of Boston Street in Altadena on April 2.
Following an investigation, the remains were determined to be human. Officials have not provided information on a possible identity.
A total of 18 people were killed in the Eaton Fire and 12 people were killed in the Palisades Fire.
The fires, which ignited on Jan. 7 just after 10 a.m. in Los Angeles County, remain one of the most deadly and destructive wildfires in Southern California history.
The Palisades Fire, which ignited in the Pacific Palisades, burned a total of 23,707 acres and destroyed 6,833 structures, according to Cal Fire data. The Eaton Fire, which erupted in Altadena, scorched 14,021 acres and destroyed 9,413 structures.
A Berkshire Hathaway office is left in smoldering ashes during the Palisade fire in the Palisade village area Pacific Palisades, a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, January 8, 2025. The terrifying blazes leveled whole streets, torching cars and houses in minutes. More than 1,000 buildings have burned in multiple wildfires that have erupted around America’s second-biggest city, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Buildings and cars destroyed by the Palisades fire lay along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California, on January 8, 2025. At least five people are now known to have died in wildfires raging around Los Angeles, with more deaths feared, law enforcement said January 8, as terrifying blazes leveled whole streets, torching cars and houses in minutes.
More than 1,000 buildings have burned in multiple wildfires that have erupted around America’s second biggest city, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes. (Photo by Zoë Meyers / AFP) (Photo by ZOE MEYERS/AFP via Getty Images)
An aerial view shows homes burned in the Eaton Fire on Feb. 05, 2025 in Altadena, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
FILE – A lone home stands among residences levelled by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)
Altadena, CA – January 8: The remains of a home lost in the Eaton fire on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025 in Altadena, CA. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Firefighters watch as water is dropped on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
FILE – A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire around a burned structure in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent, File)
A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A firefighter sets up a hose while fighting the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 8: A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire while it burns homes at Pacific Coast Highway amid a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. The fast-moving wildfire has grown to more than 2900-acres and is threatening homes in the coastal neighborhood amid intense Santa Ana Winds and dry conditions in Southern California. (Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images)
An aerial view of a beachside homes destroyed in the Palisades Fire along Pacific Coast Highway on January 16, 2025 in Malibu, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
The remains of beachside homes that burned along Pacific Coast Highway during the Palisades Fire in Malibu, CA, on Wednesday, January 15, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
Kenneth Snowden, left, surveys the damage to his fire-ravaged property with his brother Ronnie in the aftermath of the Eaton Fire Friday, Jan. 10, 2025 in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
An emergency vehicle drives through a neighborhood devastated by the Eaton Fire, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Debris from a destroyed home is seen as a newly built ADU (accessory dwelling unit) stands behind after surviving the Eaton Fire, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The rubble of apartments overlooking the ocean, destroyed in the Palisades Fire, are seen in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on January 10, 2025. (Zoë Meyers/AFP via Getty Images)
The devastation from the Palisades Fire is visible in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
LOS ANGELES, USA – JANUARY 11: A Monterey County Firefighter watch as a LA County helicopter comes in to make a water drop on the Palisade Fire. (Photo by Jon Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area of Los Angeles County in California on Jan. 8. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP)
The Andrew McNally House, a historical landmark, burns during the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, on Jan. 8, 2025. Rampaging wildfires around Los Angeles have killed at least two people, officials said Jan. 8 as terrifying blazes leveled whole streets, torching cars and houses in minutes.
More than 1,000 buildings have burned in multiple wildfires that have erupted around America’s second biggest city, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)
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The fires prompted the evacuation of thousands of residents, with many receiving little or no notice, and forced the closure of a large stretch of Pacific Coast Highway. In the aftermath of the fires, many communities and businesses are struggling to rebuild and recover.
The causes of both fires remain under investigation.
For the Eaton Fire, Southern California Edison came under scrutiny after photos and videos taken by residents showed a fire burning under a transmission tower when the fire first started, according to the Los Angeles Times.
More than 40 lawsuits from over 600 residents have been filed against SoCal Edison accusing the utility company of igniting the blaze, the Times reports.
The origin of the Eaton Fire is being investigated by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The cause of the Palisades Fire remains under investigation by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
