Firefighters race to contain wildfires in Los Angeles as winds expected to increase | News of Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi

Evacuation orders across the Los Angeles area cover 153,000 residents, with 57,000 buildings at risk.

Firefighters are racing to stop wildfires spreading across Los Angeles before potentially strong winds return, while new evacuation warnings have left more homeowners on edge.

Intense efforts were underway Saturday in the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, after wildfires there spread to additional areas overnight.

Residents were warned of the possibility of worsening weather conditions in the coming days, which could fuel the fire.

The Palisades Fire had spread through the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood and threatened to move into the upscale Brentwood neighborhood, Cal Fire Fire Marshal Todd Hopkins told reporters at a news conference.

The main focus Saturday will be on the Palisades Fire burning in the Valley area, not far from the UCLA campus, Cal Fire Chief Christian Litz said.

“We need to be aggressive out there,” Litz said.

Meanwhile, evacuation orders across the Los Angeles area now cover 153,000 residents, with 57,000 buildings at risk.

Another 166,000 residents have been warned they may have to evacuate, Los Angeles County Mayor Robert Luna said.

Luna added that his agency has sent 40 search and rescue team workers to work jointly with other agencies, including using cadaver dogs to search for the remains of victims and to help reunite families who have been separated.

At least 11 were killed

Six simultaneous fires that have torn through Los Angeles County neighborhoods since Tuesday have killed at least 11 people and damaged or destroyed 10,000 structures — a term that includes homes, apartment buildings, businesses, outbuildings and vehicles.

It is estimated that at least 13 people are missing so far. The death toll is expected to rise when firefighters are able to conduct house-to-house searches.

The strong Santa Ana winds that fanned the fires subsided Friday night. But the Palisades Fire on the city’s western edge was heading in a new direction as winds blew in from the Pacific Ocean and threatened the foothills of the densely populated San Fernando Valley.

The fire, the most destructive in Los Angeles’ history, leveled entire neighborhoods, leaving only the smoldering ruins of what had been people’s homes and property.

Before the latest blaze, firefighters reported progress in extinguishing the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire in the foothills east of the city after it raged out of control for several days.

The Palisades Fire on Saturday was 11 percent contained, and the Eaton Fire to the east was 15 percent contained, state agency Cal Fire said.

Combined, the two large fires burned more than 36,000 acres (14,500 hectares), or 56 square miles (145.6 square kilometers) – 2.5 times the area of ​​Manhattan.

Seven neighboring states, the federal government and Canada rushed to provide assistance to California, bolstering air teams dropping water and fire retardant on burning hills and crews on the ground attacking fire lines with hand tools and hoses.

The wind is expected to slow

The National Weather Service said conditions in the Los Angeles area will improve over the weekend, with sustained winds slowing to about 20 mph (32 km/h), and gusts between 35 mph and 50 mph (56-80 km/h). / hour).

“It’s not windy, so that should help firefighters,” said Alison Santorelli, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, adding that conditions remain critical with low humidity and dry vegetation.

Officials declared a public health emergency due to the thick, toxic smoke.

Private forecasting firm AccuWeather estimated damage and economic losses at $135 billion to $150 billion, portending an arduous recovery and higher insurance costs for homeowners.

President Joe Biden declared the fires a major disaster and said the US government would reimburse 100 percent of recovery costs over the next six months.