More than 130,000 people in the Los Angeles area were ordered to evacuate early Thursday as firefighters battled several major wildfires that have already killed at least five people and destroyed more than 1,000 structures. Had gone.
A new, fast-spreading fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills late Wednesday night, prompting the latest orders for people to flee for safety.
Dry conditions and strong winds favorable for fires to start and spread are expected to persist through Friday, meteorologists said.
Strong wind gusts had grounded aircraft used to help fight the fires, but officials said Wednesday that winds had subsided enough to resume those operations.
“Tonight, we have very light wind conditions where we can get aircraft and a ton of additional resources out of this fire,” Pasadena Fire Chief Chad Augustine said. “That’s what gives me confidence that we will overcome this fire.”
US President Joe Biden has approved a federal emergency declaration to release federal funding and resources to help fight wildfires in California.
The White House said late Wednesday that Biden canceled a planned trip to Italy so he could “focus on directing the full federal response in the coming days.”
“We are prepared to do everything and anything, as long as necessary, to contain these fires and help rebuild and ensure we get back to normal. “It’s going to be a long road,” Biden said Wednesday. “It’s going to take time.”
The Defense Department pledged to provide California with “additional firefighting personnel and capabilities.”
While officials had warned of the possibility of wildfire in the Los Angeles area given the conditions this week, the fire was much more widespread than anticipated.
“The L.A. County Fire Department was prepared for one or two major fires, but not four, especially given these sustained winds and low humidity,” L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Marone said Wednesday.
In addition to the Hollywood area, there were active fires in Pacific Palisades, Altadena, Pasadena, and Sylmar.
Thousands of hectares of land have been burnt and the fire is continuously spreading.
“We don’t have any percentage of prevention,” Marrone said.
Two thousand National Guard members have been deployed to assist local firefighters.
In pictures: Wildfires rage in California
In Pacific Palisades, hurricane-force winds carried the fire from home to home. In the same area, firefighters said hydrants had dried up.
“There was tremendous demand for our system in the Palisades,” said Janice Quinones, chief executive and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. “We pushed the system to its limits.”
The call for water was “four times the normal demand… for 15 hours continuously”, he added.
The Pacific Palisades fire is the most destructive in the history of Los Angeles. With 1,000 structures destroyed, the Palisades fire far exceeds the devastation of the 2008 Sayre Fire, which destroyed 604 structures in LA’s northern suburbs.
Some information for this report was received from Associated Press and Reuters.