IN PICTURES | Fires still out of control devour Los Angeles: death toll rises to 6

The fire continues to ravage Los Angeles, enveloped in thick acrid smoke: the two main fires raging in the Californian megacity remain out of control on Thursday, in “critical” weather conditions.

• Also read: Biden cancels trip to Italy due to California fires

• Also read: At least five dead in fires in Los Angeles, Hollywood evacuated

Thursday evening, American authorities confirmed the death of a sixth person, according to CNN.

This is the first known death attributable to the Palisades Fire. It was reported in the coastal city of Malibu in Los Angeles County.

“Although the individual has not yet been identified, this tragic news weighs heavily on our hearts,” Malibu Mayor Doug Stewart said in a statement. “On behalf of the City of Malibu, I would like to express my deepest condolences to this person’s loved ones. Our community mourns with you this moment of unimaginable loss.”

However, authorities cannot, for the moment, predict the exact number of deaths in these violent fires.

“Frankly, we don’t know” what the true toll of the victims is, they announced, according to what the American media reported.

Some 400 military reinforcements have been announced to fight the fires and they should be on site in the evening, local authorities also indicated on Thursday.

“Everything lost”

Several citizens who live in the region testified before the media to report on the devastation left by the fires.

“The flames have consumed all our dreams. We have lost practically everything,” William Gonzales whispered to AFP behind a black mask, in front of his house reduced to ashes in the town of Altadena, north of Los Angeles.

To the west of the second largest city in the United States, the outbreak that devours the upscale neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, with its villas of multimillionaires and celebrities, located between Malibu and Santa Monica, was still not limited to the ‘afternoon. And this, despite the reinforcement of helicopters dropping water thanks to a temporary lull in the violent winds which fanned the flames.

No more than the one that set fire to Altadena, where at least six people died, even if its spread was “considerably stopped” the previous night, firefighters said.

“These are the most extensive and devastating fires in the history of California,” declared US President Joe Biden, who is living his last days in power, during a meeting organized Thursday afternoon in the White House with officials involved in the management of these violent fires.

“Death and Destruction”

“It’s a vision of death and destruction,” Kalen Astoor, a 36-year-old legal assistant, described to AFP, surrounded by blackened and charred remains in what until a few days ago were residential streets. Miraculously, his mother’s house remained standing. Many neighboring homes were reduced to ashes.

“I don’t know if anyone will be able to come back for a while. Even if your house is still standing, it is damaged by smoke,” she sighs.

“The winds retain their historic character. This is absolutely unprecedented,” warns Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

Throughout the day from Thursday and until Friday, a “significant development of fires remains likely”, whether fires already in progress or new outbreaks, warn the weather services.

Hollywood, lair of the cinema industry, threatened for a time by the flames, can breathe: the fire in its hills was brought under control by the firefighters, according to the local authorities, and the evacuation order was issued. got up Thursday morning.

Listen to it daily news summary to the broadcast of Mario Dumontevery day from 6 a.m. and in format balado on the QUB platform:

“Unacceptable” looting

Amid the chaos in the partly deserted city, looting led to the arrest of twenty people, according to police, who called them “totally unacceptable.”

In Altadena, a stricken town, residents have decided to set up patrols to protect what remains of their neighborhoods. A curfew was declared in evacuated areas of the coastal city of Santa Monica.

The furious flames, which have progressed at lightning speed since Tuesday, fanned in conditions of extreme drought by gusts which blew up to 160 km/h, have destroyed more than 2,000 buildings – houses, businesses, schools , etc. – and raise fears of other deaths.

One of the six victims was Altadena resident Victor Shaw, who defended his home until the end.

“It seems like he was trying to save the house that his parents had for almost 55 years,” his friend Al Tanner, who found him lifeless, garden hose in hand, told KTLA.

Californians were urged by authorities to conserve water as three reservoirs supplying fire hydrants were emptied by battling flames in Pacific Palisades alone.

Hollywood disrupted

“More than 7,500” firefighters, some from other American states, are leading the fight against these fires.

President-elect Donald Trump spread false information on his Truth Social network, claiming that California is running out of water because of Democratic environmental policies that would divert rainwater to protect a “useless fish.”

In fact, the majority of water used by Los Angeles comes from the Colorado River and is primarily used by the agricultural industry.

“Climate change is a reality,” reaffirmed Joe Biden, who will cede power on January 20 to Donald Trump, a notorious climate skeptic.

In the city of entertainment, the fires are disrupting the cinema industry: several film and series shoots have been stopped and the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park has been closed. The Oscar nominations have been pushed back two days, to January 19.

The Santa Ana winds currently blowing are a classic of California’s autumns and winters. But this time they reached an intensity not seen since 2011, according to meteorologists.

A nightmare for firefighters: California is coming out of two very rainy years which gave rise to lush vegetation, now dried out by an abnormally dry winter.

Scientists regularly point out that climate change is increasing the frequency of extreme weather events.