A large fire affects the heights of Los Angeles (California), on the west coast of the United States. California authorities asked thousands of people to evacuate on Thursday, November 7, as the fire has already destroyed 132 homes and continues to intensify in the hills of the northwest of the Los Angeles region. On Thursday, the fire was only 5% contained, according to authorities, reportsAFP.
It threatens more than 3,500 homes and has already consumed more than 8,300 hectares. The mountain fire broke out Wednesday near the upscale town of Camarillo. It is burning in an area where about 30,000 people live, according to Ventura County firefighters.
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“We’re just trying to get to safety.”
The origin of the fire is still unknown, but the flames spread quickly thanks to powerful winds, with gusts of up to 130 km/h, which should calm down during the night from Thursday to Friday.
“We stayed up all night watching what was happening. I didn’t sleep”, a resident told the local television channel KTLA, by evacuating the area with his family.
“We’re just trying to get to safety. I didn’t even know what to take. I put everything I could into my car,” she added, on the verge of tears. A state of emergency was declared in the most affected areas by Governor Gavin Newsom, who visited the area on Thursday.
“Everything has disappeared”, observed on KTLA a man with a broken voice, who lost his home where he had lived for 27 years.
“We emptied the water systems”
Ventura County fire officials said they are devoting all their resources to this fire. Helicopters dropped water on the area throughout the night. Several hundred firefighters defended the houses with fire hoses.
The fight against the flames is so intense that the hydrants to which the fire trucks connect were dried up by demand at one point on Wednesday evening.
“We emptied the water systems,” Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said during a news conference Thursday. This forced his teams to carry water to different homes.
The fire season is very intense this year in the region
Local weather services issued an alert this week, warning of the risk of fires. The red alert should be lifted this Friday, they indicated Thursday evening.
These winds were expected to gradually lose their strength on Thursday, before “a decrease” considerable in the evening, explained meteorologist Rich Thompson.
Power companies cut power to tens of thousands of customers in the area, a common strategy in California during high winds, to reduce the risk of new fires caused by toppled power lines.
After two rainy winters which provided a relative respite, California is experiencing a very active fire season this year. The vegetation reformed thanks to the precipitation of the last two years has dried up and becomes a powerful fuel.
This summer, the Golden state (Golden State) has suffered from several heat waves, signs of global warming. In July-August, it suffered the fourth largest fire in its history.
