Los Angeles engulfed in flames. The City of Angels is facing major fires which started on the night of Tuesday January 7 to Wednesday January 8. According to the latest estimates, nearly 3,500 hectares of land have already been devastated. The largest of the three fires is in Pacific Palisades, an upscale neighborhood of the city, where more than 2,900 hectares have been consumed, according to CNN. The other fires started in Altadena and near Sylmar, located northeast and northwest of Los Angeles, respectively.
Faced with the magnitude of the situation, the municipality declared a state of emergency. Schools were closed in more than a dozen neighborhoods and nearly 30,000 residents of Pacific Palisades were forced to evacuate their homes. Furthermore, the fire fighters’ fight could well become complicated since wind gusts recorded at 160 km/h fuel the fires and prevent the takeoff of certain emergency planes.
1,400 firefighters on the ground
According to the US Weather Service, “This will likely be the most destructive storm since the 2011 storm that caused significant damage to Pasadena and the nearby foothills of the San Gabriel Valley”. To combat the spread of fires, “The State of California has deployed more than 1,400 firefighters and hundreds of pieces of equipment to fight these fires”declared Gavin Newsom, the governor of the state on Twitter.
The Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, spoke on Wednesday January 8. She explains receiving “regular updates” on fires, specifies ABC News. In addition, she calls on Americans affected by the fires to “listen to local authorities, remain vigilant and evacuate immediately if asked to do so”. In addition to Los Angeles, the cities of Pasadena and Santa Clarita also took note of the situation and ordered mandatory evacuations in the face of the spread of the fires.
Canada
