The death toll from wildfires sweeping the Los Angeles area has risen to 16, as crews struggle to stop the spreading fires before the potential return of strong winds that could push the flames toward some of the city’s most famous landmarks.
The threat of fires in the area this week will be “very high” due to Santa Ana winds and dry conditions, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said at a news conference on Sunday, adding that “high and critical fire-related weather conditions will continue.” It continues until Wednesday.”
Five of the deaths were attributed to the Palisades Fire and 11 were attributed to the Eaton Fire, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office said in a statement Saturday evening.
The total number of deaths previously confirmed before Saturday was 11, but officials said they expected that number to rise as teams with cadaver dogs carried out methodical searches in flattened neighborhoods. Authorities have set up a center where people can report missing persons.
Joseph Everett, assistant chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Western Bureau, said it was difficult to see such devastation in an area where he, his father and grandfather worked as firefighters.
“It resonates with me deeply,” he said at a community meeting Saturday night. “Please be patient because we are out there…still fighting with the firepower out there.”
There were fears that winds could move the fires towards the J. Paul Getty Museum and the University of California, Los Angeles, while new evacuation warnings left more homeowners on edge.
Devastating wildfires are still burning across Los Angeles and Southern California. Nearly 10,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed, and more than 180,000 people were displaced. Andrew Chang explains how drought conditions and Santa Ana winds contributed to the largest fire, the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles County, and why firefighters are struggling to contain it. Images collected from Reuters, Getty Images, and The Canadian Press.
By Saturday evening, Cal Fire reported that the Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth and Hearst fires had burned about 160 square kilometers, an area larger than San Francisco. The Palisades and Eaton fires were approximately 153 square kilometers in area.
In a news conference posted online Saturday evening, Michael Tromm of the California Office of Emergency Services said 150,000 people in Los Angeles County had been issued evacuation orders, with more than 700 people seeking shelter in nine shelters.
A series of images from Google and Reuters show some of the devastation in Los Angeles, where raging wildfires have destroyed at least 10,000 buildings. (Image source: Google/Reuters)
Crews from California and nine other states are part of an ongoing response that includes 1,354 fire trucks, 84 aircraft and more than 14,000 personnel, including newly arrived firefighters from Mexico, he said.
Alberta confirmed on Saturday that it will send 40 wildland firefighters early in the week to help fight wildfires in California.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Thursday that his province will send two water bombers, along with 165 urban firefighters and equipment to help in the battle. Two water bombers from Quebec have been involved in fighting the fires since Tuesday.
“Our American friends have asked for help fighting the California wildfires, and Team Canada is responding,” Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan said on social media.
With Cal Fire announcing the Palisades Fire was 11 percent contained on Sunday, the same as the day before, and the Eaton Fire 27 percent contained, up from 15 percent on Saturday, the battle is set to continue.
Limited rain for more than 8 months
A fierce battle broke out Saturday in Mandeville Canyon, home of Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrities not far from the Pacific coast, with rushing helicopters dumping water as the fire spread downhill.
Firefighters on the ground used hoses to try to extinguish the rising flames while thick smoke covered the tree-covered hillside.
Strong Santa Ana winds were largely blamed for turning wildfires into infernos that destroyed entire neighborhoods around the city where no significant rain had fallen in more than eight months.
More than 200 American Red Cross workers are helping Southern California residents, according to a news release issued Friday. Nicole Moll, a spokeswoman for the American Red Cross, says they have shelters for evacuees that continue to operate as new evacuation orders begin Saturday. “Disasters don’t discriminate,” Moll says, referring to evacuees from all walks of life. Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/1.7429025
The fire also threatened to jump over the 405 Freeway and into densely populated areas of the Hollywood Hills and San Fernando Valley.
Historical cost
The fires, which began on Tuesday north of downtown Los Angeles, burned more than 12,000 buildings.
Firefighters made progress for the first time Friday afternoon on the Eaton Fire north of Pasadena, which has burned more than 7,000 structures, a term that includes homes, apartment buildings, businesses, outbuildings and vehicles. Most evacuation orders for the area have been cancelled, officials said.
No cause has been determined for the largest fires, and initial estimates indicate that the forest fires may be the costliest ever seen in the country. Preliminary estimates from AccuWeather put the economic damage and losses so far at between $135 billion and $150 billion.
In an interview broadcast Sunday on NBC, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the fires could eventually become the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.
“I think it would be just in terms of the costs associated with it, in terms of size and scope,” he said.
Volunteers flocked to donation centers, and some had to be turned away at sites including the horse race track at Santa Anita Park, where people who lost their homes were sifting through piles of donated T-shirts, blankets and other household goods.
Canadian journalist George Stroumboulopoulos spoke to The National about opening his Los Angeles home to friends displaced by wildfires, and how the city is coming together to support each other during the crisis.
Altadena resident Jose Luis Godinez said three houses inhabited by more than a dozen members of his family were destroyed.
“Everything is gone,” he said, speaking in Spanish. “My whole family lived in those three houses, and now we have nothing.”
Officials warn against returning
Los Angeles County Mayor Robert Luna warned residents not to venture back into destroyed homes to search the rubble for souvenirs.
“We have people driving by and trying to get in just to look. Stay away,” Luna said, urging people to adhere to the curfew.
Officials warned Saturday that the ash could contain lead, arsenic, asbestos and other harmful substances.
“If you’re lifting this stuff, you’re breathing it in,” said Chris Thomas, spokesman for Palisades Fire’s Unified Incident Command, who warned that the substance is “toxic.”
Thomas said residents will be allowed to return with protective gear after damage teams assess their properties.
According to reports, nearly 1,000 imprisoned firefighters in California are currently battling wildfires in the state. Some have criticized the practice for low wages for firefighters, but Royal Ramey, a former inmate and co-founder of the Forestry and Fire Employment Program, says the program helps create job opportunities for inmates when they are released.
https://i.cbc.ca/1.7429308.1736696214!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_1180/california-wildfires.jpg?im=Resize%3D620
Source link