The death toll from the wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area rose to 16 as crews battled to cut off the spreading blazes before potentially strong winds return that could push the flames toward some of the city’s most famous landmarks.
The fire threat in the area this week will be “very high” due to the Santa Ana winds and dry conditions, Anthony Marrone, the Los Angeles Country fire chief, said at a briefing Sunday, adding that “elevated, critical fire weather conditions will continue through Wednesday.”
Five of the deaths have been attributed to the Palisades Fire and 11 resulted from the Eaton Fire, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said in a statement Saturday evening.
The total number of previously confirmed fatalities before Saturday was 11, but officials said they expected that figure to rise as teams with cadaver dogs conduct systematic grid searches in levelled neighbourhoods. Authorities have established a centre where people can report the missing.
Joseph Everett, assistant chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department’s west bureau, said it has been difficult to see such destruction in an area where he, his father and grandfather all have worked as firefighters.
“It resonates with me heavily,” he said at a community meeting Saturday night. “Please be patient as we are up there … we’re still aggressively fighting fire out there.”
There were fears that winds could move the fires toward the J. Paul Getty Museum and the University of California, Los Angeles, while new evacuation warnings left more homeowners on edge.
Devastating wildfires continue to burn throughout Los Angeles and southern California. Nearly 10,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed, with more than 180,000 people displaced. Andrew Chang explains how drought conditions and Santa Ana winds contributed to the biggest of the blazes, the Palisades Fire in L.A. County, and why firefighters are struggling to contain it.
Images gathered from Reuters, Getty Images, and The Canadian Press.
By Saturday evening, Cal Fire reported the Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth and Hurst fires had consumed about 160 square kilometres, an area larger than San Francisco. The Palisades and Eaton fires accounted for nearly 153 square kilometres.
In a briefing posted online Saturday evening, Michael Traum of the California Office of Emergency Services said 150,000 people in Los Angeles County were under evacuation orders, with more than 700 people taking refuge in nine shelters.
A series of images from Google and Reuters show some of the devastation in Los Angeles, where raging wildfires have destroyed at least 10,000 structures. (Photo credit: Google/Reuters)
Crews from California and nine other states are part of the ongoing response that includes 1,354 fire engines, 84 aircraft and more than 14,000 personnel, including newly arrived firefighters from Mexico, he said.
Alberta on Saturday confirmed it will be sending 40 wildland firefighters early in the week to help combat the California wildfires.
On Thursday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said his province will send two water bombers, along with 165 urban firefighters and equipment to help in the battle. Two water bombers from Quebec have been involved in fighting the fires since Tuesday.
“Our American friends have asked for help to fight the wildfires in California and Team Canada is responding,” Minister of Emergency Preparedness Harjit Sajjan said on social media.
With Cal Fire reporting containment of the Palisades Fire at 11 per cent on Sunday, the same as the previous day, and the Eaton Fire at 27 per cent, up from 15 per cent on Saturday, the fight is set to continue.
Limited rainfall for more than 8 months
A fierce battle occurred Saturday in Mandeville Canyon, home to Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrities not far from the Pacific coast, where swooping helicopters dumped water as the blaze charged downhill.
Firefighters on the ground used hoses in an attempt to beat back leaping flames as thick smoke blanketed the chaparral-covered hillside.
Strong Santa Ana winds have been largely blamed for turning the wildfires into infernos that levelled entire neighbourhoods around to city where there has been no significant rainfall in more than eight months.
More than 200 American Red Cross workers are helping southern California residents, according to a news release on Friday. Nicole Maul, spokesperson for the American Red Cross, says they have shelters for evacuees, which continue to run as new evacuation orders rolled in on Saturday. Maul says ‘disasters do not discriminate,’ referring to evacuees from all walks of life.Â
Read more:Â https://www.cbc.ca/1.7429025
The fire also threatened to jump over Interstate 405 and into densely populated areas in the Hollywood Hills and San Fernando Valley.
Historical cost
The fires that began Tuesday just north of downtown Los Angeles have burned more than 12,000 structures.
Firefighters for the first time made progress Friday afternoon on the Eaton Fire north of Pasadena, which has burned more than 7,000 structures, a term that includes homes, apartment buildings, businesses, outbuildings and vehicles. Most evacuation orders for the area were lifted, officials said.
No cause has been determined for the largest fires and early estimates indicate the wildfires could be the nation’s costliest ever. A preliminary estimate by AccuWeather put the damage and economic losses so far between $135 billion and $150 billion US.
In an interview that aired Sunday on NBC, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the fires could end up being the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.
“I think it will be in terms of just the costs associated with it, in terms of the scale and scope,” he said.
Volunteers overflowed donation centres and some had to be turned away at locations including the Santa Anita Park horse racing track, where people who lost their homes sifted through stacks of donated shirts, blankets and other household goods.
Canadian media personality George Stroumboulopoulos tells The National about opening up his Los Angeles home to friends forced out by the wildfires, and about how the city is banding together to support each other through the crisis.
Altadena resident Jose Luis Godinez said three homes occupied by more than a dozen of his family members were destroyed.
“Everything is gone,” he said, speaking in Spanish. “All my family lived in those three houses and now we have nothing.”
Officials warn against returning
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna warned residents against venturing back to destroyed homes to sift through rubble for keepsakes.
“We have people driving up and around trying to get in just to look. Stay away,” Luna said, urging people to abide by curfews.
Officials on Saturday warned the ash can contain lead, arsenic, asbestos and other harmful materials.Â
“If you’re kicking that stuff up, you’re breathing it in,” said Chris Thomas, a spokesperson for the unified incident command at the Palisades Fire who warned the material was “toxic.”
Residents will be allowed to return with protective gear after damage teams evaluate their properties, Thomas said.
According to reports, nearly 1,000 California incarcerated firefighters are currently fighting wildfires in the state. Some have criticized the practice due to the low pay for the firefighters, but Royal Ramey, a former inmate and co-founder of the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, says the program helps create career opportunities for inmates upon release.