The fire continues to ravage Los Angeles, enveloped in thick acrid smoke: the two main fires in the Californian megacity remain out of control Thursday in “critical” weather conditions.
“The flames have consumed all our dreams, after years spent here,” whispers William Gonzales to AFP from behind a black mask, in front of his house reduced to ashes in the town of Altadena, north of Los Angeles.
“We lost almost everything.”
To the west of the second largest city in the United States, a huge outbreak is raging in the upscale Pacific Palisades district with the villas of multimillionaires and celebrities, located between Malibu and Santa Monica. It is “one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history” of Los Angeles, said the city’s fire chief, Kristin Crowley, during a press conference.
This fire is not at all contained at this stage, despite the reinforcement of helicopters dropping water thanks to a temporary lull in the violent winds which fan the flames. No more than the one which devours Altadena, where at least five people died, even if its spread was “considerably stopped” during the night, said the firefighters.
“Altadena is devastated,” noted Californian parliamentarian Judy Chu on a local channel, during a visit to a center where a thousand evacuated residents found refuge. “They are distraught.”
Around 180,000 people across the Californian city are still affected by an evacuation order and the weather conditions, ultra dry and windy, remain “critical”, although less severe, insist forecasters and local authorities.
“Unacceptable” looting
“The winds retain their historic character. It is absolutely unprecedented,” warns Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
Throughout the day from Thursday and until Friday, a “considerable development of fires remains probable”, whether fires already in progress or new outbreaks, warn the weather services.
Hollywood, lair of the cinema industry, threatened for a time by the flames, can it breathe: the fire in its hills was brought under control by firefighters, according to local authorities, and the evacuation order was lifted on Thursday Morning.
Amid the chaos in the partly deserted city, looting led to the arrest of twenty people, according to police, who described it as “totally unacceptable”. A curfew was even declared in evacuated areas of the coastal city of Santa Monica.
The furious flames, which have progressed at lightning speed since Tuesday, fanned in conditions of extreme drought by gusts which blew up to 160 km/h, have destroyed more than 2,000 buildings – houses, businesses, schools , etc. – and raise fears of other deaths.
One of the five victims was Altadena resident Victor Shaw, who defended his home until the end.
“It seems like he was trying to save the house that his parents had for almost 55 years,” his friend Al Tanner, who found him lifeless, garden hose in hand, told KTLA.
Hollywood disrupted
Californians were urged by authorities to conserve water as three reservoirs supplying fire hydrants were emptied by the fight against flames in Pacific Palisades, where nearly 7,000 hectares were charred.
“More than 7,500” firefighters, sometimes from other American states, are leading the fight against these “unprecedented fires in Los Angeles,” declared California Governor Gavin Newsom.
President-elect Donald Trump spread false information on his Truth Social network, claiming that California is running out of water because of Democratic environmental policies that would divert rainwater to protect a “useless fish.”
In reality, most of the water used by Los Angeles comes from the Colorado River, and is primarily used by the agricultural industry.
President Joe Biden, still in power for a few days and who canceled a planned trip to Italy this week, is due to speak during the day.
In the city of entertainment, the fires are disrupting the cinema industry: several film and series shoots have been stopped, and the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park has closed. Oscar nominations have been pushed back two days to January 19.
Several Hollywood celebrities are among the tens of thousands of people ordered to evacuate.
The Santa Ana winds currently blowing are a classic of California’s autumns and winters. But this week, they reached an intensity not seen since 2011, according to meteorologists.
A nightmare for firefighters, because California is coming out of two very rainy years which created lush vegetation, now dried out by an abnormally dry winter.
Scientists regularly point out that climate change is increasing the frequency of extreme weather events.
This article was automatically published. Sources: ats / afp
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