The fires are still out of control. Fanned by winds of up to 160 km/h, the fires ravaging Los Angeles have already burned nearly 12,000 hectares, according to the California firefighters’ count on Thursday January 9. Faced with the advance of the flames, the authorities ordered the evacuation of more than 130,000 residents, particularly in certain very upscale neighborhoods of the second largest city in the United States. Five deaths have been recorded since Tuesday. Follow our live stream.
“Between 1,000 and 1,500 French people” in the areas concerned. “Several dozen” of French people have seen their property destroyed, says the French consul general in Los Angeles on franceinfo. The count of nationals threatened by these fires is “difficile” to be established precisely, according to him, because if 12,000 French people are registered in the consular register in Los Angeles, the consulate estimates their real number between 25,000 and 30,000.
Seven ongoing fires around Los Angeles. Local authorities reported seven separate fires Wednesday evening, located in the northeast and northwest of the city, as well as in neighboring Ventura County, which borders the hills and the Malibu district. According to the California Governor’s Office, more than 7,500 firefighters and rescuers were deployed.
One of the costliest fires in California history? Due to their extent, but also the destruction of luxury residences sometimes costing millions of dollars, these fires have caused damage already estimated at 57 billion dollars (or 55 billion euros) by the weather forecasting company AccuWeather.
