At least 10 people are confirmed to have been killed by the blazes as wildfires intensified by hurricane-force winds have swept across the county. Tens of thousands of acres have been destroyed by the Eaton and Palisades fires alone, forcing nearly 200,000 people to evacuate.
Musk confirmed the move via X (formerly Twitter), with the free Starlink terminals ensuring emergency services and affected citizens can keep connected, as unlike traditional telco services, which send signals through cell towers, Starlink connects devices directly to satellites in Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO).
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Cellular service is down throughout the affected areas, with Starlink’s connectivity being used by TV crews to continue to provide news reports on the escalating situation.
NEWS: TV crews are using SpaceX's @Starlink to broadcast their live fire coverage in LA."The only reason you're able to see us right now is because of Starlink. There's absolutely no cell service at all in this whole area." pic.twitter.com/7EXT0IQ5HG
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) January 9, 2025
In total five massive wildfires are raging, the worst of which, Eaton and Palisades have affected a total of 33,668 acres, with very little contained, according to the latest Los Angeles County Fire Department update.
Three smaller fires — Kenneth, Lidia, and Hurst, have affected a total area of 1,819 acres, with Lidia the largest of the three that’s contained.
Eaton is rapidly growing, with the fire edging dangerously closer to Mount Wilson in Pasadena, where a host of critical telecommunication infrastructure is housed.
Towers that sit atop Mount Wilson are used by local emergency services and law enforcement, as well as transmission equipment for TV channels.
Smoke and flames can be seen inching towards the towers in various videos posted to social media, with 3D mapping tools monitoring the fires showing the edge of Eaton is virtually on top of some of the equipment.
Fire trucks and crews have been deployed to the top of the mountain to try and stem the oncoming flames.
In addition to broadcasters and emergency services, Starlink terminals will also be provided to evacuation shelter sites to ensure affected citizens can contact loved ones.
Starlink was recently used to provide direct-to-cell connectivity to parts of North Carolina that were hit by Hurricane Helene last October.
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