The Press in California | Neighborhoods threatened by massive fires

(Los Angeles) The weekend was awaited with hope in Los Angeles: the winds, harmful to the work of the firefighters, were expected to calm down. But on Friday evening, their change of direction caused quite a surprise. Neighborhoods previously spared are now threatened by massive fires.

“I never thought we could be evacuated, because the Palisades area is close by, but there’s the hill and the ridge between us,” David Hurwitz said, pointing to the thick clouds of smoke that were rising. rise in the Santa Monica Mountains, a few miles from his Encino home.

This neighborhood in Los Angeles is located in a valley. In 22 years, it was the first time Mr. Hurwitz had received an evacuation notice, warning of “potential danger to life or property.” For the moment, it is not obligatory to leave the area, but its inhabitants must prepare.

Struggle

Firefighters were still struggling to control the fires on Saturday, which killed at least 16 people. Chinook helicopters and air tankers followed one another above the thick gray smoke overlooking the Pacific Palisades area.

This blaze has become the main source of attention for the authorities, who fear the effect of a further intensification of the winds in the coming days.

The largest active fire in Los Angeles since January 7 already covers more than 91 km^⁠2.

It is now approaching new inhabited areas, including the University of California at Los Angeles and the Getty Museum.

Waiting

“My children are already with their grandparents, and I have no intention of playing the hero by staying here if we have the order to evacuate,” specifies Mr. Hurwitz, grateful to have had the “ gift of time” to prepare for a departure.

Aware of the particular threat posed by embers carried by the wind, he nevertheless hopes to have time to water his house before fleeing, in the hope of delaying its conflagration.

His neighbor also left his children aged 6, 9 and 10 with their grandparents and their mother, after receiving the evacuation notice on his phone on Friday.

“But my in-laws are not that far away, so we don’t know if they too will have to leave their house soon,” says Peyman Karbalai.

The 45-year-old cryptocurrency broker had come to pick up some extra belongings on Saturday, but the police stationed at the end of the street, blocked by orange cones, told him that he would not be able to return before the notices were lifted if he left. the perimeter.

Not far away, a veterinary hospital was also dealing with the unexpected evacuation notice.

“We are monitoring the situation closely, but last night, we saw that the fire was getting bigger and bigger and when we received the notice, we decided to temporarily rehouse the three cats who live here,” explains Dr.^r Ashkan Farahany, owner of the hospital. All non-urgent appointments have been canceled. The hospital made sure it had enough supplies for fire-related injuries.

Refuge

Despite the new threat to Encino residents, a shelter about ten minutes’ drive away, which had just opened, was almost empty Saturday morning.

Dozens of green cots were lined up in the back of a room at a recreation center, complete with blankets, waiting for evacuees or homeless people looking for shelter to escape the stale air from Los Angeles.

The majority of victims are not accommodated in the shelters opened in the wake of the fires. Bobby Walsczuk, a 68-year-old former surfer, preferred to sit in his car at Marina Del Rey after leaving his home in Topanga.

“I have my car; there are people who are more in need than me,” said this water lover. From his windshield, he has a view of the blue water and the white boats. Even if, in the distance, the dense smoke does not allow him to forget the disaster.

Lynne Redding, a retired actress, checked into a Santa Monica hotel after leaving her Pacific Palisades home with her poodle, Trixie. In her seventies, the woman lost everything. “I’m not going to rebuild,” she confides. I don’t have the energy anymore. »

She also feared, like many Los Angeles residents, a difficult battle with insurance.

“This is the second tragedy of all this, having to deal with insurance companies and seeing what they will cover,” she sighs. I know there will be disputes. »

More than 10,000 structures were destroyed by the flames. Even before the current fires, private insurance companies had withdrawn their coverage from homeowners due to increased fire risks.

The cost of insurance could amount to 20 billion US dollars, according to analysts cited by Reuters.