Wind forecasts in Los Angeles this week raise a red flag warning for wildfires

Dangerous high winds are expected to resume Monday in Los Angeles, potentially hampering efforts to extinguish two stubborn wildfires that have destroyed entire neighborhoods and claimed the lives of at least two dozen people.

Dry Santa Ana winds of 80 to 112 kilometers per hour are expected to resume Monday and continue through Wednesday, the National Weather Service said in issuing a red flag warning for a “particularly dangerous situation.”

The most dangerous day will be Tuesday, fire behavior analyst Dennis Burns warned at a community meeting Sunday night.

In anticipation, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said over the weekend that the state is already preparing firefighting in at-risk areas including those surrounding the Palisades and Eaton fires, the two largest fires burning in Southern California.

At least 24 people died in the fires that started on January 7. The fires turned entire neighborhoods into smoldering ruins, leaving a horrific scene. Officials said at least 12,300 buildings were damaged or destroyed Firefighters from CanadaMexico and seven other US states met in the Los Angeles area to help their counterparts in California.

The return of high winds threatens crews’ hard-won progress in containing the fires. Over the weekend, air and ground firefighters were able to stop the Palisades Fire as it encroached on the upscale Brentwood section and advanced toward the densely populated San Fernando Valley to the north.

This fire on the western side of the city has consumed 96 square kilometers and is 14 percent contained, a number that represents the percentage of the fire’s perimeter that firefighters have controlled.

The Eaton Fire in the foothills east of Los Angeles has burned 57 square kilometers – roughly the size of Manhattan – although containment has risen to 33 percent.

North of the city, the Hearst Fire is 89 percent contained, and three other fires sweeping through other parts of the county are now 100 percent contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said, although areas within Containment lines are still burning.

“Like something out of a movie”

In Altadena on the edge of the Eaton Fire, Tristen Perez said he never left his home, defying police orders to evacuate as the fire spread down the hill.

Instead, Perez insisted on trying to save his property and the homes of his neighbors.

“The fire was burning in your front yard and the palm trees were lit up. It looked like something out of a movie,” Perez told Reuters in an interview at his home.

“I did everything I could to stop the line and save my house, and help save theirs.”

In anticipation of the return of high winds on Monday, officials warned all of Los Angeles County’s nearly 10 million residents to prepare to evacuate.

As of Sunday afternoon, more than 100,000 people in Los Angeles County had been under evacuation orders — down from the previous record of more than 150,000 — while another 87,000 faced evacuation warnings.