Burned-out cars sit amongst debris at a residence on Altadena Drive destroyed by the Eaton Fire, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)2025-01-11T00:06:42Z The extent of the damage from wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area is horrific however its tallied: Neighborhoods have been erased, landmarks destroyed and lives lost. But officials have prompted some confusion by suggesting their count of structures damaged more than 12,000 includes not just homes, apartments and businesses, but also vehicles.Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone is among the leaders who have said the estimate includes vehicles a caveat not typically made when authorities estimate fire damage. As Californias wildfire agency quickly listed the Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires among the states most destructive, that led to questions about whether the count was comparing apples and oranges.Chris Thomas, a spokesman for the unified incident command at the Palisades fire, said Friday that the initial estimate is based on infrared imaging taken during overhead flight, and its not always easy to tell from that altitude whether a burned-out shape was a pickup truck, say, or a shed. Officials examined the images and excluded any that appeared to be vehicles, Thomas said for example, if it was clearly in a driveway, or along the side of a road where there were no homes. Sixteen teams are examining the damage from the ground and will conclusively determine how many structures were destroyed before reaching a final count, which will not include vehicles.We have a lot of things in it that arent really structures, Thomas said. If theres any question, they err on the side of caution by including it. Thus, the final tally of destroyed structures could be lower than the 12,000 estimate officials have given.Were trying to be transparent and say, This is what were doing, but then we have to go back and explain, Well, heres why cars might be counted, Thomas said. Structures that can be counted include freestanding outbuildings, such as a garage, shed or pool house.