<a class="post__byline-name-unhyphenated" href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/author/associated-press" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Person" itemprop="author"> <span itemprop="name">Associated Press</span> </a> <a class="post__byline-name-hyphenated" href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/author/associated-press"> Associated Press </a> <br>Leave your feedback<br>The Pentagon announced Wednesday that it will assist California in its effort to combat massive wildfires roaring through the Los Angeles area.<br><strong>Watch Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh’s briefing in the player above.</strong><br>The wildfires have left neighborhoods in ruins, killing at least two people and threatening landmarks made famous by Hollywood as desperate residents escaped through flames, hurricane-force winds and towering columns of smoke.<br>President Joe Biden pledged on Wednesday to sign a federal emergency declaration after arriving at a Santa Monica fire station for a briefing with Gov. Gavin Newsom.<br><a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-trump-delivers-first-remarks-after-certification-of-2024-election-win"><strong>WATCH:</strong> Trump won’t rule out use of military force to seize Panama Canal and Greenland in first remarks since vote certification</a><br>Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said that the Pentagon is providing ten Navy helicopters with water buckets to help with fire suppression.<br>“At the president’s direction, the Department of Defense will provide additional firefighting personnel and capabilities,” Singh said. “We’re standing by ready to support California with what it needs,” she said.<br>Three major blazes that erupted just a day earlier blanketed the city with a dangerous, thick cloud of smoke and ash and destroyed homes across the metropolitan area, from the Pacific Coast inland to Pasadena, home of the famed Rose Parade.<br>One of the fires was the most destructive in the modern history of the city of LA.<br>With thousands of firefighters already attacking the flames, the Los Angeles Fire Department put out a plea for off-duty and out-of-state firefighters to help. The strong winds had temporarily stopped aircraft from dumping water from above until they were able to resume flights.<br>More than 1,000 structures were destroyed and numerous people were hurt in the fires, including first responders, said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone.<br>At least 70,000 people were ordered to evacuate — a number that kept changing because evacuation orders were continually being issued, officials said. The flames marched toward highly populated and affluent neighborhoods, including Calabasas and Santa Monica, home to California’s rich and famous.<br>The fires have consumed a total of about 22 square miles (56 square kilometers) — about half the size of the entire city of San Francisco.<br>Newsom posted on X that California had deployed more than 1,400 firefighting personnel to combat the blazes. He also dispatched National Guard troops to help. Firefighters from neighboring states also were being asked to assist.<br>More than 100 schools were closed due to fire risk. Southern California Edison shut off service to thousands because of safety concerns related to high winds and fire risks. More than 500,000 could face shutoffs depending on weather conditions, the utility said.<br>The U.S. is set to provide Ukraine an additional $500 million in weapons quickly pulled from its existing stockpiles as the Biden administration works to get Kyiv in a stronger negotiating position before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, two U.S. officials said.<br>The announcement is expected during Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s final trip to meet with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a consortium of about 50 partner nations that Austin brought together months after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 to coordinate weapons support.<br>The meeting on Thursday is the 25th and potentially last gathering of the U.S.-led group, as the participating countries wait to see whether it will be continued under Trump.<br>Speaking to reporters in Washington, Singh said the U.S. and its allies have committed more than $126 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russian troops invaded almost three years ago.<br>The weapons are funded through presidential drawdown authority, meaning they can be pulled directly from U.S. stockpiles. A senior defense official who briefed reporters traveling with Austin said the goal was to get those munitions into Ukraine before the end of the month.<br>To date the U.S. has provided Ukraine about $66.5 billion in weapons assistance.<br>There is now a little less than $4 billion remaining in congressionally authorized funding for Ukraine and much of that is expected to roll over to the Trump administration to determine whether to continue the weapons support.<br>“I think it’s pretty clear that the Ukraine Defense Contact Group has more than just a common understanding. It’s a common cause,” Singh said.<br>“And so it’s really up to the incoming administration to decide what they use, what they decide to do with the remaining authority that’s left.”<br>At Wednesday’s briefing, Singh also told reporters that the U.S. military conducted multiple precision strikes against two Iranian backed Houthi underground advanced conventional weapons storage facilities. The facilities were located within Houthi controlled areas of Yemen.<br><span>By</span> Illia Novikov, Associated Press<br><span>By</span> Laura Barrón-López, Shrai Popat, Matt Loffman<br><span>By</span> Will Weissert, Zeke Miller, Associated Press<br><span>By</span> Will Weissert, Michelle L. Price, Associated Press<br><span>By</span> Associated Press<br> <a class="post__byline-name-unhyphenated" href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/author/associated-press" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Person" itemprop="author"> <span itemprop="name">Associated Press</span> </a> <a class="post__byline-name-hyphenated" href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/author/associated-press"> Associated Press </a> <br> <span>Support Provided By:</span> <a href="https://help.pbs.org/support/solutions/articles/5000677869" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Learn more</a> <br>Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else.<br>Thank you. 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