(The Post News)- As firefighters on the ground scramble to contain three wildfires, California weather forecasters have warned that the strong winds that have fueled the infernos around Los Angeles are predicted to flare up again over the week.
After a weekend of relatively calm winds, officials have warned that the dry Santa Ana winds would again pick up from Sunday until Wednesday, with wind speeds reaching up to 96 km/h.
Firefighters make headway against deadly Palisades and Eaton fires, aided by out-of-state and international crews, as they prepare for worsening winds. On Sunday, the LA County medical examiner updated the death toll to 24, whilst 16 others remain missing, according to officials. In the Eaton fire zone, at least 16 were found dead, and eight were found in the Palisades area.
Three infernos continue to burn around Los Angeles. The Palisades is recorded as the largest fire, as it has now burnt through more than 23,000 acres and is only 13% contained. The second biggest fire is the Eaton fire, having burnt through 14,000 acres and is 27% contained. The Hurst fire, spanning 799 acres, is now nearly under control.
The wildfires have been recorded to be the costliest in US history, with an estimate of financial losses from the blazes to be between $250bn and $275bn, according to Accuweather.
Although personnel have been able to start limiting the biggest flames, authorities are warning that the impending wind event may produce “potentially disastrous wind conditions” with the entire LA County put under fire threat.
A rare ‘particularly dangerous situation’ alert has been issued for Tuesday by the National Weather Service, warning of “extreme fire behaviour,” which will be running from 04:00 local time up until 12:00 on Wednesday.
Residents near evacuation zones have been urged by Kristin Crowley, the city of Los Angeles’ fire chief, to be ready to evacuate if an order is given and to avoid interfering with firefighters by avoiding the roads as much as possible. Although the dire forecast, the LA Unified School District announced that all schools except those in mandatory evacuation zones would reopen on Monday.
On Sunday, new fires continued to flare up, posing a threat in the San Fernando Valley and near NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), whilst firefighters were able to quickly stop the spread of new fires in the Angeles National Forest, an area that surrounds the facility based at the heart of the US space program, which contains top secret technology.
Sheriff Luna says that currently 14,000 firefighters are in the southern California region and are assisted by 84 aircraft and 1,354 fire engines.
The number of people under evacuation orders has decreased, with approximately 105,000 residents still required to evacuate and another 87,000 advised to be prepared to leave. The administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Deanne Criswell, says that a significant threat still remains, meanwhile Jim McDonnell, chief of LAPD, says that limited access has been permitted to have residents evacuated during the course of the weekend, but his officers are once again barring all residents from returning.
The spat between California Governor Newsom and President-elect Donald Trump is heating up. Trump, who’s set to take office on January 20, has been invited by Newsom to tour the devastating fire damage in California. However, instead of accepting the invitation graciously, Trump blamed “incompetent” politicians for the catastrophic fires, which he claims are among the worst in the country’s history.
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