This week, several wildfires broke out in parts of Los Angeles, with the largest fire shifting eastwards on Saturday, further prompting more evacuation orders and presenting new challenges for exhausted firefighters.
Since Tuesday, six wildfires have been raging in various communities in Los Angeles County, resulting in at least 11 fatalities and damaging or destroying over ten thousand structures. As firefighters conduct house-to-house searches, the numbers of casualties and losses are expected to rise.
On Friday night, the Santa Ana Winds, which had been fueling the fires, subsided. However, the Palisades Fire on the western edge of Los Angeles changed direction, spreading towards the Brentwood community and the foothills of the San Fernando Valley. This shift led authorities to issue new evacuation orders, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Erik Scott, the captain of the Los Angeles Fire Department, stated in an interview with local TV station KTLA that “a significant new fire front has emerged in the east of the Palisades Fire and is continuing to spread northeast.”
As the fire moved eastward, firefighting teams had to adjust their deployment. Fire Captain Adam VanGerpen told CNN that “the fire has now entered the Mandeville Canyon area and is approaching the 405 Freeway.” He emphasized that even though the red flag high wind warnings were lifted on Friday evening, the fire could still rapidly change direction.
VanGerpen added that ten aircraft had been redirected to Mandeville Canyon, with two additional reinforcement teams dispatched to the fire. He also noted that the fire in this area is more terrain-driven rather than being solely fueled by extreme winds.
This wildfire is being called one of the most destructive fires in the history of Los Angeles, leaving entire communities in ashes, with residents’ homes reduced to smoldering ruins.
Before the fires reignited, firefighters had reported making some progress in gaining control over the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire in the eastern foothills of Los Angeles. According to data from Cal Fire, as of Friday night, the containment rate was 8% for the Palisades Fire and only 3% for the Eaton Fire.
These two fires combined have already scorched approximately 35,000 acres of land, equivalent to 2.5 times the size of Manhattan.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna stated that roughly 153,000 people are currently under evacuation orders, with an additional 167,000 receiving evacuation warnings, and all evacuation areas have implemented curfews.
In response to the disaster, seven neighboring states, the federal government, and Canada have provided assistance to California to bolster aerial firefighting teams and support ground firefighters in establishing fire lines, as reported by Reuters.
The National Weather Service predicts that the weather conditions in the Los Angeles area will improve this weekend, with sustained wind speeds expected to drop to around 20 miles per hour and gusts between 35 and 50 miles per hour.
“The decrease in wind should aid firefighters’ operations,” said meteorologist Allison Santorelli, but she warned that low humidity and dry vegetation still pose threats.
Cal Fire predicts that strong winds may return next Tuesday, maintaining high fire risk conditions for the coming week.
The thick toxic smoke released by the fires poses health risks, leading officials to declare a public health emergency in California. Simultaneously, the economic losses and damages caused by the fires continue to escalate.
Private meteorological company AccuWeather estimates that the losses and economic impact from this wildfire are between 135 to 150 billion US dollars. California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has called on insurance companies to halt all non-renewal and cancellation notices, and extend grace periods for premium payments.
President Joe Biden has declared the wildfires a major disaster and pledged that the federal government will reimburse 100% of the recovery costs within the next six months.