Los Angeles: new gusts of wind threaten to fuel fires

Strong gusts of wind forecast for Wednesday threaten to fuel the vast fires still raging around Los Angeles, the second city in the United States, and which have killed at least 25 people.

A week after these disasters began and spread at lightning speed, meteorologists warned that winds particularly dangerous of Santa Ana would intensify.

The latter are a classic of Californian autumns and winters, but this time they reached a strength not seen since 2011, with gusts of up to 160 km/h last week.

Regions still at risk

Stay attentive […] Be prepared to evacuate. Avoid anything that could start a firelaunched the National Weather Service (NWS), warning of winds that could blow at 110 km/h between 3 a.m. and 3 p.m. Wednesday.

The very low humidity level and the vegetation, which is extremely dry after eight months without precipitation, can lead to ultra-rapid fire expansion in certain places, point out meteorologists, who have also placed a large part of southern California on red alert.

Several areas of Los Angeles County and swathes of neighboring Ventura County lie within a particularly dangerous situationnoted the NWSusing the same terms as before the deadly fires of last week.

All the vegetation is really dry and ready to burn, so […] fires can occur quite quickly.

Fires still active

The Palisades and Eaton outbreaks – which are still active in places – could restart and new disasters could quickly become problematic, he added.

The two main fires ravaged 9,700 hectares in the upscale district of Pacific Palisades and more than 5,700 in the city of Altadena, just north of Los Angeles.

The authorities nevertheless say that they are ready to face new threats, while the fire hydrants had finally dried up in recent days.

We have checked the water system in the Eaton fire zone and it is operational, meaning we have water and pressureassured fire chief Anthony Marrone.

Recommended masks

Health services are also urging everyone to wear a mask, as gusts raise toxic ash.

Ashes are not just dirtwarned Anish Mahajan of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

These are dangerous fine dusts that can irritate or damage your respiratory system and other parts of your body.

Cleaning operations

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday ordered cleanup crews to be ready to respond, as emergency officials predict possible winter rainstorms that could cause mudslides.

Some residents of Palisades have decided not to wait and are working themselves to remove the charred debris from the arteries and sidewalks.

Chuck Hart, a business manager, and his team were working on a construction site in his neighborhood when the fire broke out.

After saving his mother’s house from the flames, they began clearing the streets. We’ve been doing this nonstop ever since. […]. We’re going to do everything in our power to get this place back up and running as quickly as possible.he told AFP.

Refusing to leave the apartment complex he manages at Pacific PalisadesJeff Ridgway said he saved it from the flames by drawing buckets of water from the swimming pool to extinguish a dangerously close eucalyptus tree.

It was warexclaimed this sixty-year-old. But I was stubborn, I fought.

Bilans records

The damage is immense: more than 12,000 homes, other buildings and vehicles were destroyed or damaged and entire neighborhoods razed.

These fires, among the worst in California’s history, could be the costliest on record: between 250 and 275 billion US dollars, according to preliminary estimates from the private company AccuWeather.

Some 88,000 people are still displaced and at least 25 have died, according to a new report.

Those whose homes were spared are frustrated at not being able to return to them.

For others, there is nothing left.

My house burned down, I know it. I saw photos: only the chimney remains. But I need to see it with my own eyes to believe itFred Busche told AFP.

The scale of the disaster was still difficult for many to comprehend.

The mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, even confided that it was only after flying over her city that she began to measure the consequences, while an investigation aimed at determining the causes of the fires was opened Tuesday at the federal level.

It’s one thing to see it on television, it’s another to see it from the air. Mass destruction is unimaginable until you actually see it.