A blackened swimming pool and a chimney were all that remained when Oren Waters returned home Thursday to assess what remained of his home of 50 years on the outskirts of Los Angeles. “This looks like the apocalypse, to be honest with you, it just doesn’t feel like the normal things that happen in your life,” the 74-year-old singer, whose voice appears in Michael Jackson’s album “Thriller,” told AFP.”It’s unimaginable,” he said through a protective mask, as a few embers burned on the ground. Waters returned to where his house once stood after the fierce winds that have been spreading fires across the Los Angeles area since Tuesday calmed. The blazes remained totally uncontained on Thursday, and the mountain overlooking Altadena, a suburban community of 42,000 people, was still in flames. The blaze dubbed the “Eaton Fire” has killed several people in the Altadena area. One man was found dead in front of his house with a hose in his hand. Waters said he also tried to fight the fire with a hose and buckets of water, working desperately to salvage items from his house until the last possible minute on Tuesday evening, as “fireballs” soared overhead. He said he didn’t know the man who died, but can understand the urge to fight back, despite the risks. “When you have the fighting spirit in you, you don’t think about what you can’t do, you think about what you need to do, what you can do,” Waters said. – ‘Extremely underprepared’ -Under the ashes of his house, the carcass of a vintage car was visible. Waters said it was a 1935 Chevrolet Standard, which has cost him upwards of $150,000. “I’m going to miss it,” added Waters, whose voice also appears in the Disney film “The Lion King.”In this neighborhood, there were homes that remained randomly intact next to those that were torched.Kalen Astoor, a 36-year-old paralegal, said her mother’s home was among those spared. A neighbor saved it by shovelling dirt on flames once the city cut off the water. The panorama in the area now “looks wrong,” she said, surveying what she described as a view “of death and of destruction and of black.”The biggest blaze ripped through nearly 20,000 acres (8,100 hectares) of the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood, while the fire in Altadena torched 13,000 acres (5,300 hectares). Astoor said it feels like the authorities were “extremely underprepared.””California is a state that burns, we should not be overwhelmed when it comes to firefighters. That’s like the thing we need to put money into: earthquake and fire.”- ‘Glad to be alive’ -A few hundred yards (meters) away, standing in front of the house where he lived with his parents, 41-year-old Adam Clingmon admitted to feeling “numb.””I don’t hold any grudges, there’s nothing that no one could do,” said the special education teacher, whose firefighter brother has been battling the Pacific Palisades blaze. “They were just stretched too thin, by the time firefighters from different counties got here, it was just too late for us,” he told AFP. “I’m just glad to be alive,” he said, recounting his narrow escape with his parents, which involved clearing a tree trunk that was obstructing the only road out. His concern was also focused on Altadena’s future, especially after insurance companies cancelled coverage for some in the area, citing the risk of extreme weather disasters linked to climate change. “I hope the insurance companies don’t screw us,” he said. “We definitely want to rebuild and bring this community back.”

As chaotic wildfires razed homes around Los Angeles forcing thousands to flee, one evacuation shelter was being overwhelmed Thursday with donations.The center at Pan Pacific Park, just south of Hollywood in the heart of Los Angeles, was having to turn away donations after kind-hearted locals brought cars full of food, clothing and toiletries.”We appreciate the support, donations and volunteers, however do not need anything additional at this time,” read a handwritten sign posted outside the shelter.The Sunset Fire, which erupted Wednesday night in the affluent Hollywood Hills, just a few hundred meters (yards) from the storied theaters of Hollywood Boulevard, sparked an evacuation order for thousands of people living in the heart of America’s entertainment capital.Some of those told to leave their homes — a mixture of multi-million dollar mansions and small, rent-controlled apartments — made their way to the city-run center.”It exploded so quickly, I’ve never seen fire move that fast,” Eric Calhoun, a city recreation director overseeing the site, told AFP.But almost as soon as the evacuees started arriving, so did the donations, and the center was soon full to bursting with goods.”I had to direct truckloads and truckloads to go to other sites,” Calhoun said.Evacuation orders for the Sunset Fire were lifted by Thursday, and by the afternoon the evacuation center had cleared out — for now.Other wildfires, including the Eaton Fire burning inland in the San Gabriel Valley and the Palisades Fire closer to the coast, have torched more than 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares) combined, destroyed more than 6,000 buildings and killed at least five people.Despite the fire activity winding down from decreasing Santa Ana winds, Calhoun said emergency assistance was in a bit of a “holding pattern,” as more wind activity was forecast for next week.

From laptops to EVs, lithium-ion batteries have fueled phenomenal growth in the 21st century, but businesses struggle with a significant downside: increased fire risk.At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), companies unveiled a next-generation garbage truck designed to detect these highly flammable batteries.The innovation comes as careless disposal of batteries from smartphones, electric toothbrushes, and other gadgets has become an acute problem at recycling centers. The owner of a New Jersey recycling plant that caught fire early Thursday pointed to the batteries as a likely cause.In the United States, across the industry, “a couple of recycling centers burn down every year,” said Jon Vander Ark, chief executive of waste management company Republic Services.Republic showcased their solution at CES: a state-of-the-art garbage truck built by industrial company Oshkosh that screens for the batteries. The vehicle resembles a conventional garbage truck, weighing in at more than 41,000 pounds and capable of carrying nine tons of cargo. But it is fully electric and outfitted with AI software that scans for problem refuse in garbage and recycling loads.While Republic already uses detection systems at recycling facilities, batteries sometimes slip through.If undetected, a forklift can run over a small battery and start a fire, Vander Ark told AFP. The new trucks allow drivers to flag collections containing batteries as sensitive loads before they reach recycling plants.”Getting that out of the stream is of huge value to us,” said Vander Ark. – Value in trash -The Oshkosh booth also showcased electric arm technology that can speed up trash collections and software that identifies non-recyclable contamination in recycling bins.The spiffed-up vehicles provide a font of operational data that can make better use of a trash driver’s time, said Oshkosh CEO John Pfeifer.Companies can pinpoint contamination sources to educate customers or fine repeat offenders, he explained.The trucks even capture video evidence when drivers can’t access bins due to blocked pickup spots. “When a customer asks, ‘Why didn’t you pick me up?’…we have video evidence,” said Vander Ark.He noted that waste management is particularly well-suited for electrification since trucks typically travel shorter distances per shift, eliminating the range concerns that often deter everyday EV consumers.The quieter electric trucks could also allow for earlier morning collections when traffic is lighter, while their overnight charging capability ensures operational readiness.

The US Supreme Court on Thursday denied a last-minute bid by President-elect Donald Trump to halt sentencing in his hush money case.The top court, which includes three justices appointed by Trump, rejected his emergency application seeking to block Friday’s sentencing by a 5-4 vote.The court, in a brief unsigned order, said the “burden that sentencing will impose on the President-Elect’s responsibilities is relatively insubstantial” and noted that Trump will be allowed to attend virtually.The court also noted that Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the hush money case, has already said he plans to impose a sentence of “unconditional discharge,” which does not carry any jail time, fine or probation.Trump is to be sentenced in Manhattan at 9:30 am (1430 GMT) on Friday after being convicted by a New York jury in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.The 78-year-old Trump, who is to be inaugurated on January 20, is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and will be the first convicted felon to serve in the White House.In a post on Truth Social following the Supreme Court decision, Trump thanked the court for “trying to remedy the great injustice done to me” and lashed out at Merchan, calling him a “highly political and corrupt judge.””I am innocent of all of the Judge’s made up, fake charges,” he said, adding that he will continue to pursue appeals of the guilty verdict in the hush money case.Trump filed an emergency application with the nine-member Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking to block his sentencing.Four conservative justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh — were in favor of granting Trump’s request.Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, also conservatives, joined the court’s three liberal justices in rejecting the president-elect’s effort. Barrett, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh were appointed by Trump.- ‘Grave injustice’ -Trump’s lawyers made several legal maneuvers in an effort to fend off sentencing, arguing that it would be a “grave injustice” and harm “the institution of the presidency and the operations of the federal government.”Trump’s attorneys also claimed that the immunity from prosecution granted to a sitting president should be extended to a president-elect.Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg rejected their arguments in his response on Thursday, saying Trump was a private citizen when he was “charged, tried, and convicted.””Defendant makes the unprecedented claim that the temporary presidential immunity he will possess in the future fully immunizes him now, weeks before he even takes the oath of office,” he said.Bragg also said the Supreme Court “lacks jurisdiction over a state court’s management of an ongoing criminal trial” and preventing sentencing would be an “extraordinary step” by the top court.In the order allowing sentencing to go ahead, the Supreme Court said Trump can still appeal his conviction through the New York state courts.Merchan said last week that he was leaning towards giving Trump an unconditional discharge that would not carry jail time. He also agreed to allow the president-elect to attend Friday’s sentencing virtually instead of in person.Trump potentially faced up to four years in prison, but legal experts — even before he won the November presidential election — did not expect Merchan to incarcerate him.Trump was certified as the winner of the 2024 presidential election on Monday, four years after his supporters rioted at the US Capitol as he sought to overturn his 2020 defeat.