Nearly 2,000 L.A. structures burned by out-of-control wildfires
CBC
Firefighters battled early Thursday to control a series of major fires in the Los Angeles area that have killed five people, ravaged communities and sent thousands of people frantically fleeing their homes.
The latest flames broke out Wednesday evening in the Hollywood Hills, striking closer to the heart of the city and the roots of its entertainment industry and putting densely populated neighbourhoods on edge during exceptionally windy and dry conditions.
That happened as firefighters battled to control three other major blazes that killed five people, put 130,000 people under evacuation orders and ravaged communities from the Pacific Coast to inland Pasadena.
The Sunset Fire was burning near the Hollywood Bowl and about 1.6 kilometres from the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Ferocious winds that drove the flames and led to chaotic evacuations have calmed somewhat and were not expected to be as powerful Thursday, though could pick up again early in the weekend. A respite could provide an opportunity for firefighters to make progress reining in blazes that have hopscotched across the sprawling region, including massive ones in the areas of Pacific Palisades and Altadena.
Winds somewhat eased Wednesday, a day after hurricane-force winds blew embers through the air, igniting block after block, and hundreds of firefighters from other states have arrived to help.
Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott said they were able to keep the fire in check because "mother nature was a little nicer to us today than she was yesterday."
The earlier fires, which have consumed a total of about 108 square kilometres, showed that the danger is far from over.
Hurricane-force winds blew embers through the air, igniting block after block in the coastal neighborhood of Pacific Palisades as well as in Altadena, a community near Pasadena. Nearly 2,000 homes, businesses and other structures have been destroyed in those blazes — called the Palisades and Eaton fires — and the number is expected to increase.
More than half a dozen schools in the Los Angeles area were either damaged or destroyed.
The Palisades Fire is already the most destructive in Los Angeles history in terms of damage, though the five deaths recorded so far in the Los Angeles wildfires were from the Eaton blaze.
U.S. President Joe Biden signed a federal emergency declaration after arriving at a Santa Monica fire station for a briefing with Gov. Gavin Newsom, who dispatched National Guard troops to help.
Higher temperatures and less rain mean a longer fire season California's wildfire season is beginning earlier and ending later due to rising temperatures and decreased rainfall tied to climate change, according to recent data.
In Palisades Village, the public library, two major grocery stores, a pair of banks and several boutiques were destroyed.
