More than 130,000 people in the Los Angeles area were under evacuation orders early Thursday as firefighters battled multiple major wildfires that already killed at least five people and destroyed more than 1,000 structures.
A new, fast-moving fire broke out late Wednesday in the Hollywood Hills, prompting the latest round of orders for people to flee to safety.
Meteorologists said the dry conditions and strong winds conducive to the breakout and spread of the fires are expected to remain in place through Friday.
High wind gusts had forced the grounding of planes used to help fight the fires, but officials said Wednesday the winds had eased enough for those operations to resume.
“Tonight, we have very mild wind conditions where we can get aircraft and a ton of additional resources getting their hands around this fire,” Pasadena Fire Chief Chad Augustine said. “That’s what gives me confidence that we’re going to get a handle on this fire.”
U.S. President Joe Biden has approved a federal emergency declaration for California to release federal money and resources to help battle the wildfires.
The White House said late Wednesday that Biden canceled a planned trip to Italy so that he can “remain focused on directing the full federal response in the days ahead.”
“We are prepared to do everything and anything, as long as it takes, to contain these fires and help reconstruct and make sure we get back to normal. It’s going to be a hell of a long way,” Biden said Wednesday. “It’s going to take time.”
The Defense Department pledged to provide “additional firefighting personnel and capabilities” to California.
While authorities had warned of the potential for wildfires in the Los Angeles area given the conditions this week, the blazes were more extensive than anticipated.
“The L.A. County Fire Department was prepared for one or two major brush fires, but not four, especially given these sustained winds and low humidities,” L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said Wednesday.
In addition to the Hollywood area, there were active fires in Pacific Palisades, Altadena, Pasadena and Sylmar.
Thousands of hectares have burned, and the fire is continuing to spread.
“We have no percentage of containment,” Marrone said.
Two thousand National Guard members have been deployed to help local firefighters.
In Pacific Palisades, the fire jumped from one house to the next, pushed by hurricane-force winds. In the same area, firefighters said hydrants had run dry.
“We had a tremendous demand on our system in the Palisades,” said Janisse Quiñones, chief executive and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. “We pushed the system to the extreme.”
The call for water was “four times the normal demand … for 15 hours straight,” she added.
The fire in Pacific Palisades is the most destructive in the history of Los Angeles. With 1,000 structures burned to the ground, the Palisades fire surpasses the devastation of the 2008 Sayre Fire, which demolished 604 structures in a northern suburb of L.A.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
