Strong winds weaken in Los Angeles, giving respite to tired firefighters

Firefighters battling two fires that have caused destruction in Los Angeles for nine days could get a break from the weather on Thursday.

The gale-force winds that initially fanned the flames and hampered rescue efforts have weakened into much lighter gusts.

Progress has been made in containing the two largest fires burning a combined total of approximately 40,000 acres.

At least 25 people have died and more than 12,000 structures have been destroyed in some of the worst fires in living memory that have devastated the second-largest city in the United States.

The two largest fires, Eaton and Palisades, are still burning after more than a week, and help to fight them has been sought in Mexico and Canada.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has lifted red flag warnings, but they could return within days.

There will be “a big improvement for tonight and tomorrow, although there will still be some areas of concern,” Ryan Kittell of the NWS told the AFP news agency.

Fire warnings remain critical and parts of southern California continue to see an elevated risk despite weakened winds and rising humidity, says BBC weather forecaster Paul Goddard.

There is no rain forecast for California during the next week.

Authorities are also monitoring the Santa Ana winds, which are credited with fanning the fires. Winds are forecast to return early next week, bringing a high risk of further red flag warnings.

Winds could bring gusts of 30 to 50 mph (48 to 80 km/h).

The Palisades Fire, the largest to burn, has seen no growth as firefighters work to contain the flames, according to Jim Hudson, Cal Fire incident manager.

It has burned 24,000 acres. As of Thursday morning, more than 20% had been contained.

“There are extreme hazards and extreme heat that still persist around the perimeter and interior of this fire,” Hudson said during a news conference in Malibu on Wednesday.

Hudson added that 5,100 people had been assigned to contain the fire.

“As we move forward, we will continue to increase our containment when we believe it is safe and that safety comes down to not only life and property, but also the growth of the fire,” he added.

The 25th death from the fires was confirmed by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office earlier this week. Several other people remain missing.

Most of the victims died in the Eaton Fire, which burned more than 14,000 acres north of the city. Firefighters have contained 45% of the fire.

Some of the Eaton fire victims have already been allowed to return to their homes, but tens of thousands of people are still under evacuation orders, where nightly curfews are also in place.

Thousands of homes have been destroyed in one of the costliest natural disasters in American history.

An extreme weather attribution study by climate scientists in ‘Climameter‘ has concluded that the California wildfires have been fueled by weather conditions reinforced by human-induced climate change.

The study found that current conditions have been warmer, drier and windier compared to the past, in areas affected by the fires.