Politics
Former Child Actor Among Those Killed In LA Wildfires As Death Toll Climbs To 16
Rory Sykes, an Australian former child actor, was killed in the Palisades wildfire earlier this week after his Malibu home was burned to the ground. The death toll from the city’s worth wildfire crisis in recent memory currently stands at 16, according to the latest figures provided by the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office.
“It is with great sadness that I have to announce the death of my beautiful son [Rory Sykes] to the Malibu fires yesterday,” his mother, Shelley Sykes, announced in an X post earlier this week. Rory Sykes, 32, had difficulty walking because of the cerebral palsy, his mother said. The actor, who starred in the late-’90s British TV show “Kiddy Kapers,” was living in a cottage on his family’s 17-acre Malibu estate. She further claimed that firefighters were unable to access water as they tried to contain the fires in the area. According to the latest figures provided by Los Angeles County officials, at least five people have been killed in the Palisades fire alone, though it is unclear whether Sykes’ death was included in that figure. The Palisades Fire ignited around 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 7, in the Pacific Palisades, and has since burned more than 20,000 acres across Los Angeles and Malibu. The fire is just 11 percent contained as of Sunday morning. Elsewhere, the Eaton Fire in the Pasadena area also remains at 15% containment. It has burned across 14,117 acres, according to Cal Fire.
An additional 13 people are missing across Los Angeles County, L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna announced in a press briefing. It is unclear whether the missing persons reports are related to the fires, he added. The previous number of fatalities was reported at 11, though officials expect the death toll to rise as cadaver dogs continue to search neighborhoods that were completely burned out. Authorities have established an operations center where residents can report missing persons.
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Firefighters are currently scrambling to contain the fires as strong Santa Ana winds are once again expected to exasperate the situation in the coming days. Unusually strong wind storms caused both the Palisades and Eaton fires to rapidly expand in erratic patterns, giving residents of affected areas little time to evacuate. As of this report, roughly 150,000 Los Angeles County residents have been ordered to evacuate their homes.
