The death toll from the wildfires that ravaged the Los Angeles area rose to 16 as emergency crews struggled to stop the spreading flames before the possible return of strong winds that pushed the flames toward some of the city’s most famous landmarks could.
The fire danger in the area will be “very high” this week due to Santa Ana winds and dry conditions, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said at a news conference Sunday, adding that “elevated, critical Fire weather conditions will prevail”. Continues until Wednesday.
Five of the deaths were due to the Palisades fire and 11 were due to the Eaton fire, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said in a statement Saturday evening.
The total number of previously confirmed deaths before Saturday was 11, but officials said they expected that number to rise as teams with cadaver dogs conduct systematic grid searches of flattened neighborhoods. Authorities have set up a center where people can report missing people.
Joseph Everett, deputy chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department’s western office, said it was difficult to see such destruction in an area where he, his father and grandfather all worked as firefighters.
“It touches me very much,” he said at a community meeting on Saturday evening. “Please be patient as we are up there…we are still aggressively fighting the fire out there.”
There were fears that the wind could push the fires toward the J. Paul Getty Museum and the University of California, Los Angeles, while new evacuation warnings left more homeowners embarrassed.
Devastating wildfires continue to rage across Los Angeles and Southern California. Almost 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 LA County’s largest blaze, the Palisades Fire, and why firefighters are struggling to contain it. Images collected from Reuters, Getty Images and The Canadian Press.
As of Saturday evening, Cal Fire reported that the Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth and Hurst fires had destroyed about 100 square miles (160 square kilometers), an area larger than San Francisco. The Palisades and Eaton fires accounted for nearly 153 square kilometers.
In a briefing posted online Saturday evening, Michael Traum of the California Office of Emergency Services said 150,000 people were being evacuated in Los Angeles County and more than 700 people were taking 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 credit: Google/Reuters)
Crews from California and nine other states are part of the ongoing response, which includes 1,354 fire engines, 84 aircraft and more than 14,000 personnel, including newly arrived firefighters from Mexico, he said.
Alberta confirmed Saturday that it will deploy 40 wildfire firefighters to help fight the wildfires in California earlier this week. BC Premier David Eby said Friday his province is currently working on sending ground crews to fight the fire.
On Thursday, Ontario Premier Doug Frd said his province would send two water bombers and 165 municipal firefighters and equipment to help in the fight. Two water bombers from Quebec have been involved in fighting the fire since Tuesday.
With Cal Fire reporting containment of the Palisades fire at 11 percent on Sunday, the same as the day before, and the Eaton fire at 27 percent, up from 15 percent on Saturday, the battle is expected to continue.
Limited rainfall 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, where swooping helicopters dumped water as the fire raced downhill.
Firefighters on the scene used hoses to try to beat back the surging flames as thick smoke blanketed the chaparral-covered hillside.
Santa Ana’s strong winds are largely blamed for turning the wildfires into an inferno that has leveled entire neighborhoods around the city that have not seen significant rainfall in more than eight months.
More than 200 American Red Cross employees are helping Southern California residents, according to a news release Friday. Nicole Maul, spokeswoman for the American Red Cross, says there are shelters for evacuees that remain operational as new evacuation orders came in Saturday. Maul says, “Disasters make no difference,” referring to evacuees from all walks of life. Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/1.7429025
The fire also threatened to spread along Interstate 405 into densely populated areas in the Hollywood Hills and San Fernando Valley.
Historical costs
The fires that broke out north of downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday have burned more than 12,000 buildings.
Firefighters made progress for the first time Friday afternoon on the Eaton Fire north of Pasadena that has burned more than 7,000 structures, a term that includes homes, residences, businesses, outbuildings and vehicles. Most evacuation orders for the area have been lifted, officials said.
No cause has been determined for the largest fires, and initial estimates suggest the wildfires could be the costliest ever in the country. A preliminary estimate from AccuWeather puts the damage and economic losses so far at $135 billion to $150 billion.
In an interview that aired Sunday on NBC, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the fires could be the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.
“I think it’s just going to be a matter of the cost involved, the scope and the scale,” he said.
Donation centers were overflowing with volunteers, and some had to be turned away at places like the Santa Anita Park racetrack, where people who had lost their homes sorted through piles of donated shirts, blankets and other household items.
Canadian media personality George Stroumboulopoulos tells The National how he opened his Los Angeles home to friends displaced by the wildfires and how the city is coming together to support each other during the crisis.
Altadena resident Jose Luis Godinez said three homes where more than a dozen of his family members lived were destroyed.
“Everything is gone,” he said in Spanish. “My whole family lived in these three houses and now we have nothing.”
Officials warn against returning
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna warned residents not to return to destroyed homes to sift through the rubble for souvenirs.
“We have people driving around trying to get in just to check. Stay away,” Luna said, urging people to adhere to curfews.
Officials warned Saturday that the ash could contain lead, arsenic, asbestos and other harmful substances.
“If you throw the stuff up, you’re going to breathe it in,” said Chris Thomas, a spokesman for the Palisades Fire’s Unified Incident Command, who warned that the material is “toxic.”
Residents will be allowed to return with protective equipment after damage teams survey their property, Thomas said.
