Firefighters have confronted persistently strong and dry winds fuelling two giant wildfires that have terrified Los Angeles for eight days, testing the resolve of a city after the worst disaster in its history.
Officials urged residents to remain vigilant and be prepared to evacuate at a moment’s notice with peak wind gusts forecast to last through Thursday afternoon.
Some 6.5 million people remain under a critical fire threat, after the fires consumed an area nearly the size of Washington, DC, resulting in at least 25 deaths so far.
“We want to reiterate the particularly dangerous situation today. Get ready now and be prepared to leave,” County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath told a press conference on Wednesday.
Although anticipated winds of up to 112 km/h had yet to materialise, firefighters reported winds of 48 to 64 km/h combined with low humidity in a region that has failed to receive any appreciable rain in nine months.
The fires have damaged or destroyed more than 12,000 homes and other structures, and forced as many as 200,000 people from their homes. Some 82,400 people were under evacuation orders and another 90,400 faced evacuation warnings as of Wednesday, County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
Entire neighbourhoods have been levelled, leaving smouldering ash and rubble. Many homes only have a chimney stack left standing.
Some 8,500 firefighters from the western United States, Canada and Mexico have kept the growth of the fires in check for three days.
The Palisades Fire on the west edge of the city held steady at 96 sq km burned, and containment nudged up to 19 per cent – a measurement of how much of the perimeter was under control. The Eaton Fire in the foothills east of the city stood at 57 sq km burnt with containment at 45 per cent.
A fleet of air tankers and helicopters dropped water and fire retardant into the rugged hills while ground crews with hand tools and hoses worked to contain the fires.
A new fire broke out on in San Bernardino County east of Los Angeles, burning 12 hectares on Wednesday. Two other fires in Southern California were largely under control.
While the fires rage on, critics have questioned whether the city properly prepared for fire danger in the face of National Weather Service warnings about hazardous weather, even though firefighters were on alert and able to deploy assets beforehand.
Fire Chief Kristin Crowley fielded queries on Wednesday about a Los Angeles Times report that fire officials had opted against ordering 1,000 firefighters to remain on duty for a second shift last Tuesday as fires were beginning to grow out of control.
The Times cited critics who said the outgoing shift should have been kept on duty and that as many as 25 additional fire engines should have been moved into hillsides.
Crowley defended her department’s preparation, saying it was impossible to know exactly where fires might break out and that some firefighters needed to remain in place to field ordinary emergency calls anywhere in the city.
“We did everything in our capability to surge where we could,” Crowley said.
The Times quoted Deputy Chief Richard Fields, who was in charge of staffing and equipment decisions ahead of the fire, as saying the scrutiny was welcome but that critics were too easily second-guessing decisions after the fact.
The disaster has cast a shadow over Hollywood’s annual awards season, normally a time of celebration leading up to the Oscars in March. Several red-carpet events have been postponed, cancelled or scaled back.
“It’s a heavy time right now for our industry,” actor Adrien Brody said. “I’m a bit heartbroken for many friends and colleagues who are suffering tremendous loss in Los Angeles right now.”
