between flames and disinformation, panic overwhelms the City of Angels

The fires are far from being under control. Fanned by the violent Santa Ana winds, which blow from the desert towards the coast, the flames move quickly through vegetation made even more flammable by months of drought.

New neighborhoods have been evacuated, and alerts ring repeatedly on cell phones. Adding to the confusion, an evacuation order was mistakenly sent to the phones of nearly 10 million residents across the city of Los Angeles, spreading panic in neighborhoods that were not threatened.

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Fires are raging in several areas of Los Angeles. The first and most devastating is the one which has devastated the Pacific Palisades district, above the Pacific Ocean, since Tuesday. In the hills and valleys, more than a thousand homes burned, including those of many Hollywood actors and celebrities. On Thursday evening, the fire almost reached the edge of Santa Monica, where police…