A new fire broke out north of Los Angeles on Wednesday, prompting evacuation orders in a region already shaken by devastating fires.
The flames spread quickly in the surroundings of Lake Castaic and consumed more than 2,000 hectares in less than two hours. They were fanned by the hot, dry Santa Ana winds that continue to blow across the region, pushing a large cloud of smoke above the blaze.
“I pray our house doesn’t burn down,” one man told KTLA television station as he loaded up his car.
Television images show police circulating in the area to encourage residents to evacuate. Helicopters and planes dropped water on the flames to try to smother them, while firefighters tried to fight them on the ground.
Near the lake, four prisons housing a total of 4,700 people are threatened by the fire.
“We have long opposed the expansion of the prison system, particularly in fire hazardous areas, and are very concerned about the safety of people incarcerated in these prisons,” ACLU staff attorney Melissa Camacho said. an important association fighting for civil rights.
-“We are calling on county leaders to direct the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department to immediately arrange the transportation necessary to evacuate the jails without delay,” she added.
Los Angeles is barely recovering from fires that broke out on January 7 and disfigured part of the city, killing nearly thirty people.
Robert Jensen, who works for the Los Angeles County sheriff, asked anyone in the area of the new fire to leave the area immediately.
“We saw the devastating causes for people who refused to follow (evacuation) orders” during the recent fires, which destroyed more than 15,500 buildings in and around the second largest city in the United States, he said. – he says.
“I don’t want to see that here. If you have received an evacuation order, evacuate,” added Robert Jensen.
