LA County Sheriff Begs Evacuees ‘Please Be Patient’ As Authorities Continue ‘Very Grim Task’ of Searching for Bodies

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna begged local residents for patience on Monday as they were anxious to return to their homes, explaining that authorities needed to continue the “very grim task” of searching for bodies, as well as investigating potential crime scenes.

The wildfires that have burned nearly 40,000 acres, forced the evacuations of over a hundred thousand people, and destroyed entire neighborhoods remain “mostly uncontained” as of Monday, CNN reported.

At a Los Angeles County press conference Monday morning, authorities sought to debunk misinformation — LA County Fire Department Chief Anthony Marrone was emphatic that his department “has never turned down any offers for mutual aid, assistance, and resources — and to update and reassure residents displaced by the fire.

Luna reported that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office still had “well over a thousand” deputies deployed “working on 12 hour shifts,” along with 172 California Highway Patrol officers, the National Guard, and other assistance.

According to Luna, there were “over 92,000 people who are under evacuation orders and approximately 89,000 people who
are under evacuation warnings,” but there was “some good news” in that those numbers had dropped.

“The conversation about repopulation is on all of our minds,” said Luna. “We are hearing our community loud and clear, and we want to get you in there as soon as possible.”

What was holding them up, Luna continued, was “very important”: the “very grim task” as they conducted grid searches for bodies of those who perished in the fires.

“Every day we’re doing this, we’re running across the remains of individual community members,” Luna continued. “That is not easy work. Very sad to report, and I believe that work is not only going to continue, but I believe we’ll continue to find remains. So please be patient with us. People are saying, I just want to go look at my house and I want to see what’s left. We know that, but we have people literally looking for the remains of your neighbors. Please be patient with us.”

Moreover, Luna cautioned, there were still “a lot of hazards in the area” and it was not safe, plus the issue of potential crime scenes to be investigated, because “we can’t go back from that” if the evidence is compromised.

The area curfew remains in effect from 6 pm to 6 am, Luna said, and added that they “understand again that people want to go back, but it is dangerous to do so and we will not put anybody’s safety at risk.”

Luna confirmed 21 deaths so far, 16 from the Eaton fire and 5 from the Palisades fire — “and sadly, yes, unfortunately, I anticipate the number to go up” — along with 23 active missing persons reported, all of whom were adults.

He urged anyone who believed they knew of a missing person to report that to their agency “as soon as possible,” and look for updates to evacuation orders, road closures, and other warnings at LAcounty.gov/emergency.

Watch the clip above via CNN.