Wind speeds remain high as Southern California wildfires rage
An ABC News graphic shows the fire risk forecast in Southern California on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. Via ABC News.
(LOS ANGELES) — A damaging Santa Ana wind event was peaking early Wednesday and winds were expected to stay strong through early afternoon in Southern California, fueling three wildfires that were quickly expanding early Wednesday around the Los Angeles metro area.
The Palisades Fire had grown to at about 2,921 acres, the Eaton Fire was about 1,000 acres and the Hurst Fire was about 500 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. All were zero percent contained.
Wind gusts were recorded at 99 mph on Mt. Lukens in the Eastern San Gabriel Mountains, at 98 mph on Saddle Peak in the Santa Monica Mountains and at 84 mph at Hollywood Burbank Airport.
Relative humidity in the area is very low, less than 10%. It has been very dry in Los Angeles, in fact October through December period was the sixth driest on record last year.
Downtown Los Angeles only saw about 0.16 inches of rain since Oct. 1, where it usually sees as much as about 4.53 inches.
An ABC News graphic shows the fire forecast in Southern California on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025.
An extreme fire risk warning was issued from Malibu to Burbank, along with Simi Valley and San Fernando.
A “Particularly Dangerous Situation” red flag warning was set to continue for Los Angeles until 4 p.m. PST on Wednesday.
The same type of warning was also issued for Orange County, and the damaging winds are expected to extend all the way to San Diego county.
A warning of critical fire danger was extended all the way to east of San Diego.
On Thursday and Friday, winds will begin to relax and relative humidity will begin to climb.
(AMSTERDAM) — Two Delta flight attendants were removed from their flight after failing a breathalyzer test in Amsterdam, officials said.
The crew members were scheduled to fly to New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport when they failed the breathalyzer test on Friday, according to the airline and Dutch police.
Dutch police said airline personnel are not allowed to drink alcohol 10 hours before a flight. The police’s Aviation Surveillance Team regularly conducts breathalyzers among airline crew.
One flight attendant was fined 1,900 euros for being seven times over the allowed alcohol limit and another attendant on the same flight was fined 275 euros, according to Dutch police.
“Delta’s alcohol policy is among the strictest in the industry and we have no tolerance for violation,” Delta Air Lines said in a statement. “The employees were removed from their scheduled duties, and the flight departed as scheduled.”
A flight attendant from another airline was fined 1,800 euros for being 6.5 times over the limit.
(NEW ORLEANS) — The man suspected of plowing a truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on New Year’s, killing 14 people and injuring 35 others, pledged his support to ISIS, the FBI said Thursday.
The suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an Army veteran and U.S.-born citizen who lived in Houston, also died in the early Wednesday attack.
After barreling through the crowd over a three-block stretch, the 42-year-old Jabbar allegedly got out of the truck wielding an assault rifle and opened fire on police officers, officials said. Officers returned fire, killing him, police said. Two police officers were injured, authorities said.
Jabbar is believed to have acted alone, authorities said Thursday, calling the attack a premeditated “act of terrorism.”
Jabbar drove from Houston to New Orleans on New Year’s Eve and posted several videos online “proclaiming his support for ISIS,” and mentioning he joined ISIS before this summer, Christopher Raia of the FBI said Thursday.
“There were five videos posted on Jabbar’s Facebook account, which are time stamped beginning at 1:29 a.m. and the last at 3:02 a.m.,” Raia said. “In the first video, Jabbar explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the ‘war between the believers and the disbelievers.'”
An ISIS flag was recovered from the back of the truck, Raia said.
Surveillance footage showed Jabbar placing two improvised explosive devices in coolers in the Bourbon Street area, Raia said. Those were the only devices recovered and both were rendered safe, he said.
Jabbar’s half-brother, 24-year-old Abdur Jabbar, told ABC News on Thursday that he’s still in shock over the carnage in New Orleans.
He described Shamsud-Din Jabbar as loving, humble and “one of the nicest guys you’d ever meet — would not hurt a fly.”
He also said his brother was “isolated.”
Abdur Jabbar said his brother’s actions “do not represent the Muslim faith,” and he said he wants people to know his “brother is a human being, even after this.”
Shamsud-Din Jabbar had a checkered marital history punctuated by multiple divorces and financial difficulty, according to court records reviewed by ABC News.
In a YouTube video posted in 2020, he said he was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, and spent a decade working in the U.S. military before becoming a realtor in the Houston area. His years in the military were spent working as a human resources and IT specialist, he said in the video, which has since been removed from YouTube.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar worked for Deloitte, serving in a staff-level role since 2021, a spokesperson for the firm confirmed to ABC News.
“Like everyone, we are outraged by this shameful and senseless act of violence and are doing all we can to assist authorities in their investigation,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar served in human resources and information technology roles in the Army from 2007 to 2015, during which he deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010, an Army spokesperson confirmed to ABC News. He continued as an IT specialist in the Army Reserve from 2015 to 2020, the spokesperson said. His listed jobs were not direct combat roles.
He is believed to have been discharged honorably from the Army, though investigators are still looking into his military record, the FBI said.
The truck used in the attack, a Ford F-150 Lightning, was rented through the Turo app — a car-sharing company, according to Rodrigo Diaz, the owner of the truck.
Diaz told ABC News he rented the truck to an individual through the app and is currently talking to the FBI.
Diaz’s wife, Dora Diaz, told ABC News that she and her husband are devastated by the incident.
“We remain committed to maintaining the highest standards in risk management, thanks to our world-class trust and safety technologies and teams that include experienced former law enforcement professionals,” a Turo spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.
ABC News’ Matt Seyler and Jared Kofsky contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Three Fort Cavazos soldiers have been accused of a conspiracy to smuggle undocumented immigrants, according to the Department of Justice.
The Texas-based soldiers were caught on Nov. 27 allegedly driving three people — one Mexican national and two Guatemalan nationals — after a United States Border Patrol Agent initiated a vehicle stop in Presidio.
An agent approached the vehicle, which then fled and “struck a second USBP vehicle, injuring an agent inside,” the DOJ said.
Police eventually stopped the vehicle and apprehended the three undocumented immigrants, as well as one of the soldiers, identified as Emilio Mendoza Lopez.
The car’s driver, who was allegedly Angel Palma, “fled on foot and was located the following day at a hotel in Odessa,” prosecutors said.
The Department of Justice has accused Mendoza Lopez and Palma of traveling to the Army base to Presidio “for the purpose of picking up and transporting undocumented noncitizens.”
A third soldier, identified as Enrique Jauregui, has been accused of recruiting and facilitating the scheme.
Text messages between the three soldiers, which were obtained through a search of Palma’s phone, allegedly revealed communications “indicating collaboration in the smuggling operation.”
Mendoza Lopez is charged with one count “of bringing in and harboring aliens” and made his initial court appearance on Monday.
Palma and Jauregui are both charged with one count of “bringing in and harboring aliens” and one count of assaulting a federal agent. They were arrested Tuesday, and are expected to appear in court on Friday.
It was not immediately clear if any of the soldiers had obtained attorneys.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Army base said they “are aware of the arrest of three Fort Cavazos Soldiers” and said they would “continue to cooperate with all federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.”
