January 9, 2025 – The County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner is working with local law enforcement and fire departments to respond to reported fatalities due to the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles County.
The Department of Medical Examiner received notification of 10 fire-related deaths as of 9 p.m. on January 9. The Medical Examiner case numbers are:
- 2025-00521
- 2025-00545
- 2025-00546
- 2025-00547
- 2025-00555
- 2025-00557
- 2025-00561
- 2025-00564
- 2025-00585
- 2025-00586
All cases are currently pending identification and legal next of kin notification. Once both occur, the information will be available on the website: https://me.lacounty.gov/case-search/.
The identification make take several weeks as the Department of Medical Examiner is not able to respond to all death locations due to the fire conditions and safety concerns. Please also keep in mind, traditional means of identification such as fingerprinting and visual identification may not be available and will add more time for naming these decedents.
The Department of Medical Examiner understands how important it is to identify those lost in the wildfires and is working diligently, while following safety protocols, to provide the information to the next of kin as soon as reasonably possible.
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