As Los Angeles enters the eighth day of battling relentless wildfires, a combination of drought conditions, low humidity and powerful Santa Ana winds have fuelled the inferno. In some areas, winds have reached hurricane strength, with speeds of up to 100mph (160km/h).
The fires have burned more than 16,425 hectares (40,588 acres), about the size of Washington, DC. The Palisades blaze and the Eaton fires have caused most of the damage.
Here is what we know:
What’s the latest?
Death toll and missing people:
- At least 24 people have died due to the wildfires. The Eaton fire killed 16 people making it one of the deadliest in California’s history, and at least eight people have died in the Palisades fire.
- Another 23 people have been reported missing in the areas of the two fires, and officials have warned that the number of deaths is likely to rise.
- More than 15,000 responders are helping fight fires and rescue people across Southern California. There are more than eight million people under critical fire risks, across the region.
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Active fires:
Three major wildfires continue to burn in the Los Angeles area:
- The Palisades fire, the first fire to erupt a week ago and the biggest, has burned 9,596 hectares (23,713 acres) and is 14 percent contained.
- The Eaton fire, the second-largest blaze starting on January 7, has burned 5,712 hectares (14,117 acres) and is 33 percent contained.
- The Hurst Fire has burned 323 hectares (799 acres) and is 97 percent contained.
- Elsewhere, in Ventura County, the Auto wildfire started on January 13 and has burned 2.02 hectares (5 acres), and has not been contained.
The earlier Kenneth, Archer, Sunset, Lidia, Woodley and Olivas fires have been contained in Los Angeles.
Damage and evacuations:
- More than 12,000 structures have been destroyed.
- Officials said about 105,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders in Los Angeles County, with another 89,000 under evacuation warnings.
- Curfews are in effect for the Palisades and Eaton fire zones from 6pm (02:00 GMT) to 6am (14:00 GMT).
Response efforts:
- Thousands of firefighters from California and nine other states are battling the fires.
- Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed an additional $2.5bn in funding for firestorm response and recovery efforts.
What’s expected on Tuesday?
Weather forecasters warn that the historic Santa Ana winds, which caused the fire to grow “rapidly and explosively” last week, will continue to influence weather conditions until Wednesday evening.
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A red flag warning – an alert for extreme, fire-related weather conditions – is in place across the whole of LA County.
The National Weather Service said wind gusts could reach up to 55mph (90km/h) by 8am (16:00 GMT). At about midday, the gusts are expected to intensify significantly, reaching speeds of up to 74mph (120km/h). Later in the day, at about 4pm (00:00), the forecast indicates that strong winds will persist, and they could maintain speeds of about 62mph (100km/h) through Tuesday.
However, wind speeds are also expected to ease after Wednesday evening, leading to more moderate conditions. The region remains critically dry and is not expected to see significant rainfall until at least next month.
“When you have these high winds, it’s not just the existing fires you have to worry about, but the new fires being sparked. Once the wind gets going, it’s not like a single line of fire moves steadily downhill. It’s embers flying for kilometres overhead,” Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds, reporting from Los Angeles, said.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power cautioned that it might cut power to customers in high fire-risk areas as a precautionary measure to prevent further fires from igniting. According to the department, the outages could last longer than 48 hours.
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What are red flag warnings?
- According to the National Weather Service (NWS), these “warnings are for the extreme of the extreme fire weather scenarios. In other words, this setup is about as bad as it gets”.
- They also said that when warnings are issued, officials limit planned burns and remain vigilant for potential wildfires.
- Red flag warnings alert fire managers on federal lands to conditions that are highly unfavourable for prescribed burns, which may lead to especially dangerous wildfire growth,” the NWS added.
Where are the fires?
Three fires are currently burning in the Los Angeles area:
- Palisades fire: This blaze is burning between Santa Monica and Malibu. Its impact also reached the upmarket Pacific Palisades neighbourhood.
- Eaton fire: This is burning out north of Pasadena, in the northern part of LA.
- Hurst: This wildfire is present in the north, near San Fernando.
What’s next?
Once the wildfires are brought under control, authorities are expected to begin the search for survivors, work on identifying victims and initiate cleanup efforts, all while striving to restore order to affected areas.
Meanwhile, evacuated people whose homes remain intact face another threat – burglars exploiting empty neighbourhoods. Authorities have reported that nine individuals have been charged with looting during the Palisades and Eaton fires.
The economic repercussions will also be significant. According to Reuters, analysts are assessing the financial toll of the wildfires, with initial estimates from AccuWeather suggesting total economic losses could climb as high as $150bn.
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