Big Los Angeles wildfire switches direction, posing new threat despite winds easing
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Big Los Angeles wildfire switches direction, posing new threat despite winds easing
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The largest of the raging wildfires that have devastated parts of Los Angeles this week was reported to have shifted direction on Saturday, triggering more evacuation orders and posing a new challenge to exhausted firefighters.
Six simultaneous blazes that have ripped across Los Angeles County neighborhoods since Tuesday have killed at least 11 people and damaged or destroyed 10,000 structures. The toll is expected to mount when firefighters are able to conduct house-to-house searches.
The fierce Santa Ana winds that fanned the infernos eased on Friday night. But the Palisades Fire on the city's western edge was heading in a new direction, prompting another evacuation order as it edged towards the Brentwood neighborhood and the San Fernando Valley foothills, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"The Palisades fire has got a new significant flare-up on the eastern portion and continues to northeast," LA Fire Department Captain Erik Scott told local station KTLA, according to a report on the LA Times website.
The fire, the most destructive in the history of Los Angeles, has razed whole neighborhoods to the ground, leaving just the smouldering ruins of what had been people's homes and possessions.
Before the latest flare-up, firefighters had reported progress in subduing the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire in the foothills east of the metropolis after it burned out of control for days. On Friday night, the Palisades Fire was 8% contained and the Eaton Fire 3%, state agency Cal Fire said.
The two big fires combined had consumed 35,000 acres (14,100 hectares), or 54 square miles - 2-1/2 times the land area of Manhattan.
Some 153,000 people remained under evacuation orders and another 166,800 faced evacuation warnings with a curfew in place for all evacuation zones, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
Seven neighboring states, the federal government and Canada have rushed aid to California, bolstering aerial teams dropping water and fire retardant on the flaming hills and crews on the ground attacking fire lines with hand tools and hoses.
The National Weather Service said that conditions in the Los Angeles area would improve through the weekend, with sustained winds slowing to about 20 mph (32 kph), gusting between 35 mph and 50 mph.
"It's not as gusty, so that should help firefighters," NWS meteorologist Allison Santorelli said, adding that conditions were still critical with low humidity and dry vegetation.
"There will continue to be a high likelihood of critical fire weather conditions through next week," it said.
Officials have declared a public health emergency due to the thick, toxic smoke.
HOMES REDUCED TO ASH
Pacific Palisades residents who ventured back to their devastated neighborhoods on Friday were shocked to find brick chimneys looming over charred waste and burnt-out vehicles as acrid smoke lingered in the air.
"This was a house that was loved," Kelly Foster, 44, said while combing through the rubble where her house once stood.
Foster's 16-year-old daughter, Ada, said she tried to get inside but "I just became sick. I just couldn't even...Yeah, it's hard."
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