The damage from wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area is horrific however it’s tallied. Neighborhoods have been erased, landmarks destroyed and lives lost. But officials have prompted some confusion by suggesting their count of more than 12,000 “structures” damaged includes not just homes and businesses, but also vehicles. Chris Thomas is a spokesman for the unified incident command at the Palisades fire. He said Friday that the initial estimate is based on infrared imaging taken by air. And it’s not always easy to tell whether a burned-out shape was, say, a pickup truck or a shed. Teams are assessing the actual damage on the ground, and vehicles will not be included in the final count.
