Los Angeles Under Red Flag Warning as Fires Rage, Winds Expected Through the Week
Los Angeles will remain under a Red Flag Warning on Thursday as multiple fires across the county have caused unprecedented and historic carnage and destruction, wasting away 45 square miles, amounting to the size of the city of San Francisco. Five people have died as a result of the fires and the death toll is expected to rise. The wildfires that started on Tuesday have laid waste to over 27,000 acres of land, destroyed over 2,000 homes, and sent upwards of 180,000 people fleeing the flames under mandatory evacuation orders as firefighters struggle to contain the blazes amid winds reaching nearly 100 mph.
A short reprieve in wind strength has granted firefighters an opportunity to curb the spread of the Eaton Fire near Pasadena, which is blamed for the five deaths that have been reported since the fires ignited this week. Still, the fire raging in the Altadena-Pasadena area has zero percent containment after massive growth over the past two days.
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“The Eaton Fire remains estimated to be 10,600 acres, and growth has been significantly stopped,” said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone, adding, “We have several reported injuries and over 1,000 structures damaged and destroyed.”
Marrone said that the National Weather Service predicts the Red Flag Warning will remain in effect for Los Angeles County and most of Ventura County through Friday.
While the deadly Eaton Fire’s growth has been stalled, the Palisades Fire in the seaside area between Santa Monica and Malibu has exploded to more than 17,000 acres. As of Thursday evening, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the Palisades Fire was six percent contained. The fire is now the most destructive blaze in Los Angeles County history; nearly 2,000 homes and structures were destroyed in the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire.
“It’s safe to say that the Palisades Fire is one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles,” Kristin M. Crowley, Los Angeles Fire Department chief said at a news conference Thursday morning.
As the fires spread, opportunists began looting in the wildfire evacuation zones across parts of the L.A. metro region, police said on Thursday. No concrete details were given about where or when the looting occurred.
“Twenty individuals chose to go into our areas and deprive these poor people who have been through so much of their property,” L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a news conference on Thursday morning.
A fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday night, bringing the flames closer to the heart of L.A. and its densely populated neighborhoods. The Sunset Fire also threatened iconic locations such as the Hollywood Bowl, Walk of Fame and TCL Chinese Theatre, but firefighters were able to get the blaze under control after it burned through 43 acres. The Los Angeles Fire Department lifted all evacuation orders for the area early Thursday morning. Several celebrities have lost their homes in the fires including Billy Crystal, Cary Elwes, Mandy Moore, Anna Faris, James Woods, Diane Warren and Paris Hilton.
“We hit [the Hollywood Hills blaze] hard and fast and Mother Nature was a little nicer to us today than she was yesterday,” L.A. Fire Department Captain Erik Scott said on Thursday.
Winds are expected to pick back up throughout Thursday and will remain gusty into at least midday on Friday in the impacted region, according to the National Weather Service in Los Angeles. Winds will then ease briefly on Friday evening into Saturday, but not before surging to potentially 50 mph, with isolated higher gusts expected Thursday afternoon. Another round of Santa Ana winds is anticipated on Saturday evening and into Sunday. Though likely confined to higher elevations, this could bring back deadly and destructive fire weather conditions.
More than 15,000 people in Malibu, from Brentwood Country Club to Pepperdine University, face gas shutoffs, county Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath said in the morning news conference.
On Thursday, 19 school districts in L.A. County were closed, according to the Office of Education, and four of these schools have already announced they will be closed on Friday. Two Palisades schools have burned to the ground as the massive fire there rapidly spread, including Palisades Charter High School, a popular location for Hollywood productions.
As residents began to point the finger at California politicians for mismanaging resources ahead of the disaster, unconfirmed speculation also spread online that an arsonist or eco-terrorist is allegedly responsible for some of the fires. Happy Days actor Henry Winkler was one user who shared the unproven theory online, taking to X (formerly Twitter) to blame an unknown arsonist in an unsubstantiated claim.
“THERE IS an ARSONIST here in LA . May you be beaten you unrecognizable !!! The pain you have caused !!!” the actor wrote.
While five deaths have been reported in the Eaton Fire, most of the scorched areas have yet to be searched, so it is likely that the death toll will climb in the coming days. The high-wind-assisted spread of the fires was also buoyed by the densely packed homes in areas that are also known to have dry vegetation, creating ideal conditions for a massive blaze’s spread.
This is a developing story.
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