Firefighters continue to battle a raging wildfire in an upscale neighborhood overlooking Los Angeles on the US west coast on Wednesday, forcing thousands of people to flee as hurricane-force winds pose a threat. “mortal danger”, according to the authorities.
The fire broke out late Tuesday morning in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, populated with multi-million dollar villas where Hollywood celebrities live, in the mountains northwest of the city. Panicked residents had to abandon their vehicles on one of the only roads entering and exiting the area, fleeing on foot from the fire which has already ravaged nearly 1,200 hectares.
To access the neighborhood, firefighters had to use bulldozers to clear dozens of vehicles from the roadway – including expensive BMW, Tesla and Mercedes models – leaving crushed carcasses with blaring alarms on the side of the road. The fire caused a huge cloud of smoke, visible from the entire megacity.
More than 1,400 firefighters are battling the flames and hundreds are on the way, California Governor Gavin Newsom said. American media also reported a firefighter among the injured.
Around 30,000 people are under evacuation orders and wind gusts of up to 95 km/h are expected to continue until Thursday, according to authorities.
| © AFP Firefighters try to extinguish the flames devouring a house in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, on the outskirts of Los Angeles, on January 7, 2025 |
Many residents evacuated in panic, with just a few belongings and their pets.
Many have found themselves stuck in traffic, like Kelsey Trainor. “There was nowhere to go and people were abandoning their cars,” she said. “Everyone was honking, there were flames all around us, left, right. (…) It was terrifying.”
Gusts up to 160 km/h
| © AFP A firefighter fights against the embers of a fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, on the outskirts of Los Angeles, on January 7, 2025 |
Trees and vegetation around the famous Getty Villa burned, but the structure and its collections of Roman and Greek antiquities were spared, the museum announced on X.
The fire broke out at the worst time for Los Angeles, swept by violent gusts.
| | © AFP An intense fire causes thousands of displacements in Pacific Palisades, on the outskirts of Los Angeles, on January 7, 2024 |
Warm Santa Ana winds, typical of the California winter, are expected to blow up to 100 mph in the region Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the U.S. Weather Service (NWS). Enough to spread the flames very quickly and pose a “mortal danger”.
| | © AFP A helicopter fights against the flames on the outskirts of Los Angeles, January 7, 2025 |
The firefighters will even have to fight on several fronts: Tuesday evening, a new fire broke out near Pasadena, north of Los Angeles, and quickly ravaged more than 400 hectares, according to the CalFire agency.
Velma Wright, 102 years old, was evacuated from a Pasadena healthcare facility where embers and flames were approaching, an AFP photographer noted.
Extremely “dry” start to winter
| | © AFP Firefighters in the middle of a fire in the suburbs of Los Angeles, January 7, 2025 |
“This is expected to be the strongest wind event in this region since 2011,” warns meteorologist Daniel Swain. But the risk of fire is, according to him, “much higher” than at the time.
Because after two very rainy years which reinvigorated the vegetation, southern California is experiencing “the driest start to winter on record”. In other words, anything that has grown back abundantly now acts as fuel for the fire.
Scientists regularly point out that climate change is increasing the frequency of extreme weather events.
“November, December, January… There is no longer a fire season. It takes place all year round,” recalled Governor Newsom.
| | © AFP A tree begins to catch fire in front of a house in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, on the outskirts of Los Angeles, on January 7, 2025. |
The storm disrupted the visit of President Joe Biden, who came to California on Tuesday to announce the creation of two “national monuments”, vast protected areas in the south of the state.
Present in Los Angeles, the 82-year-old Democrat immediately approved federal aid for the second largest city in the United States.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who owns a home in California, said she was praying for “Californians who had evacuated.”
Donald Trump, who is due to succeed Mr. Biden in a few days at the White House, threatened in September to cut federal aid usually received by California to fight against forest fires.
