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LOS ANGELES (TPLinkfi.com) -Wildfires plaguing the Los Angeles area have reached the Hollywood Hills after infernos in five other locations claimed at least five lives, razed hundreds of homes, and severely taxed firefighting teams and water resources.
Over 100,000 people had to leave their homes because strong, desert-like winds impeded firefighters’ efforts to combat the wildfires, which had been raging across dry terrain for nearly three days.
A new fire erupted in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday evening, Fire Chief Kristin Crowley announced at a news conference, prompting further evacuations and bringing the total number of wildfires blazing in Los Angeles County to six.
Nearly all of them had no containment, according to state officials, with two enormous blazes on the eastern and western edges of the city continuing to spread as night fell on Wednesday.
The so-called Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills quickly grew to 20 acres within minutes, according to Cal Fire.
The Los Angeles Fire Department evacuated residents from an area bounded by Hollywood Boulevard on the south, Mulholland Drive to the north, the 101 Freeway on the east side, and Laurel Canyon Boulevard on the west, all addresses made famous by the entertainment industry.
Inside this zone is the Dolby Theater, the site of the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The announcement of next week’s Oscar nominees has been delayed by two days due to the fire.
Although small in size compared to other blazes, the Sunset Fire threatened to engulf an area near Hollywood Boulevard and its Walk of Fame. To reach the Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory farther up the hills, the fire would have to move beyond the 101 Freeway.
SMOULDERING RUINS
On the west side of Los Angeles, a massive wildfire known as the Palisades Fire ravaged approximately 15,832 acres and destroyed numerous structures in the hills separating Santa Monica and Malibu. The fire moved rapidly down Topanga Canyon before reaching the Pacific Ocean.
Raw footage seized by KTLA television revealed long blocks of scorched houses in Pacific Palisades, charred acres punctuated by the fiery explosion of remaining burning homes.
The Eaton Fire in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains has grown to cover another 10,600 acres and destroyed 1,000 more structures, with at least five fatalities reported.
The private forecasting service AccuWeather estimated that the initial destruction and economic costs are worth over $50 billion.
“We’re dealing with a massive, all-time-low point in terms of natural disasters,” said Kevin McGowan, director of emergency management for Los Angeles County, emphasizing the gravity of the situation.
Forecasters predicted that gusts would subside temporarily on Wednesday night, but hazardous conditions were predicted to persist until Friday.
PowerOutage.us reports that nearly one million homes and businesses in Los Angeles County are without electricity. All schools in the area will be closed through Thursday, according to Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.
“The wind started blowing strongly and the flames were shooting up around 30 to 40 feet, making it sound like a warzone,” Kevin Williams, who had to be evacuated from Eaton, told a reporter at a shelter in Pasadena, describing the sudden explosions of gas canisters at nearby homes as they burst into flames.
WATER WOES
The scale and spread of the blazes have already taxed the limited resources available to fight fires.
“There aren’t enough firefighters in Los Angeles County to respond to the four massive fires at once,” said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone.
Firefighters from five other states were being rushed to California, as well as over 250 engine companies with 1,000 personnel being redeployed from Northern California to Southern California, the official stated.
Drought conditions have left some fire hydrants in the affluent area of Pacific Palisades without water, according to local authorities.
“We’re testing our system to the limit by fighting wildfires with urban water resources, and that is proving to be a highly difficult task,” Janisse Quinones, the head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said during a press conference.
The town of Pacific Palisades depends on three large water tanks which have a capacity of approximately one million gallons each, according to the official. However, the increasing need for water to fight fires at lower elevation areas is posing a significant challenge in refilling the water tanks located at higher elevations.
By Wednesday afternoon, all three tanks along with the remaining 114 reservoirs in the city had been replenished, Quinones mentioned at a subsequent press conference.
The wildfires hit at a particularly sensitive moment for Southern California, which had not had a significant rainfall since the beginning of the water year in October.
Next, a strong and dry wind known as a Santa Ana swept in from the desert, pushing air towards the coastal mountains and unleashing rapid stimulation of nearby wildfires, gusting over the hilltops and funneling down into the canyons.
Researchers note that the ongoing fires, occurring far beyond typical wildfire season, represent another peak in a series of extreme weather patterns that are projected to worsen as global temperatures rise over the upcoming decades.
President Joe Biden remained in Los Angeles after a scheduled flight was cancelled due to strong winds on Tuesday, and he attended a meeting with California Governor Gavin Newsom at a Santa Monica fire station to receive information about the firefighting operations.
“California is facing devastating consequences, with over one thousand buildings destroyed, more than a hundred thousand people forced to evacuate, and reports of deaths, as well as irreparable damage to entire communities and way of life,” he said, who declared a state of emergency on Tuesday.
President Biden declared a state of emergency for California and assured to provide any assistance he could before stepping down as President on January 20, when President-elect Donald Trump will take over.
We’re leaving no stone unturned in our efforts to control these fires and ensure a swift return to normalcy,” he said. “It’s going to be a long and arduous process that will take time.
Reporting from Pasadena, California by Joe Brock and Matt McKnight, and from Los Angeles by Jackie Luna, Jorge Garcia, and Mike Blake, as well as Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California. Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, Jonathan Allen, Jackie Luna, David Ljunggren, Shubham Kalia, Gursimran Kaur, Kanishka Singh, and Kanjyik Ghosh. Reporting was also provided by Joseph Ax and Daniel Trotta. The text was edited by Mary Milliken, Angus MacSwan, Mark Porter, Sandra Maler, and Lincoln Feast.
