Containment of the Eaton Fire has risen to 45% despite tough conditions that were expected to worsen. Meanwhile, the death toll attributed to the fire has also grown to 17, according to the L.A. County medical examiner.

The deadly Eaton Fire in Altadena and Pasadena is 35% contained Wednesday while red flag warnings of critical fire danger will be in place over the burn area and much of SoCal through 6 p.m. with some areas under the alert until Thursday afternoon.

Hundreds of evacuees and volunteers on Saturday descended on the parking lot at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, where a grassroots donation center was set up a few miles south of the Eaton Fire. The ad-hoc donation center was established outside the race track after being moved from the parking lot of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Two lawsuits filed Monday against Southern California Edison allege the utility failed to de-energize its power equipment and clear brush where a blaze sparked near Pasadena, one in a cascade of wildfires currently burning in the Los Angeles area,

Southern California Edison, a unit of utility Edison International , was hit by multiple lawsuits on Monday claiming its electrical equipment started one of the major wildfires currently raging in the Los Angeles area,