Los Angeles faces more wildfire evacuations as strong winds ease By Reuters

By Jorge Garcia, Rollo Ross and Maria Alejandra Cardona

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Strong winds that burned parts of Los Angeles finally subsided on Friday night, bringing relief to exhausted firefighters, but the largest blaze was reported to have he has changed, he has caused new orders to flee.

Six wildfires have ravaged Los Angeles County since Tuesday, killing at least 11 people and damaging or destroying 10,000 buildings. Those rates were expected to increase once it was safe for firefighters to conduct door-to-door searches.

On Friday night, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Palisades Fire on the city’s western edge was headed for a new route, prompting an evacuation order that included much of the Brentwood area. and foundations in the San Fernando Valley.

“The Palisades fire has a significant new wave in the east and is continuing to move northeast,” Fire Department Chief Erik Scott told local station KTLA, according to report on the LA Times website.

Before the latest outbreak, firefighters reported progress in containing the Palisades Fire and Eaton (NYSE:) The fire is in the foothills east of the capital city.

After burning out of control for days, despite the efforts of hundreds of firefighters battling the flames from the air and on the ground, the Palisades Fire was 8% contained and the Eaton Fire was and 3%. Cal Fire had listed both fire conditions at 0% as of Friday.

However, the two large fires combined had burned 35,000 acres (14,100 hectares), or 54 square miles – 2-1/2 times the area of ​​Manhattan.

With thousands of people homeless and smoke billowing, US officials have declared a public health emergency.

About 153,000 people remained under evacuation orders and another 166,800 faced evacuation warnings, according to the county sheriff’s office. of Los Angeles, Robert Luna.

Seven neighboring states, the federal government and Canada have stepped up aid to California, bolstering watercraft and firefighting teams in the burning hills and ground crews battling the fire lines with hand tools and hoses. .

“Because of the increased number of resources assigned, the area is in a better position than we were earlier this week,” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone told the conference. of the press.

Conditions in the Los Angeles area will improve over the weekend, with sustained winds of up to 20 mph (32 kph), gusts between 35 mph and 50 mph, according to the National Weather Service, the latest wind break of 80 mph.

“It’s not that dangerous, so that should help the firefighters,” NWS meteorologist Allison Santorelli said, adding that conditions remain difficult due to low humidity and dry plants.

However, forecasters have predicted another red flag warning will be issued on Monday.

HOUSES FOUND ASHES

Residents of Pacific Palisades who returned to their damaged areas were shocked to find brick chimneys on top of charred debris and charred cars with thick smoke in the air.

“This was a house that was loved,” Kelly Foster, 44, said as she dug through the rubble where her home once stood.

Smoke rose from neighboring homes and planes dropped water nearby.

Foster’s 16-year-old daughter, Ada, said she tried to go inside but “I just got sick. I couldn’t even … Yeah, it’s hard.”

In Rick McGeagh’s Palisades estate, only six of the 60 houses survived, and all that was left standing in his farmhouse was a statue of the Virgin Mary.

“Everything is ash and rubble,” said McGeagh, 61, a real estate agent who, along with his wife, raised three children in their home.

On Friday morning, hundreds of people flocked to the parking lot near the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena to donate clothes, diapers and bottled water.

Denise Doss, 63, said she was eager to return to her damaged home in Altadena to see if anything could be salvaged, but officials stopped her for safety reasons. .

“At least for good until we can rebuild. I’ll let God guide me,” Doss said.

Many residents of Altadena said they are worried that government resources will go to wealthier areas and that insurers could temporarily turn those who can’t resist fire claims.

In addition to those who lost their homes, tens of thousands were left without electricity, and millions of people were exposed to poor air quality, as the fire raised scraps of metal, plastic and other materials. an artificial one.

BILLIONS OF LOSSES

Private analyst AccuWeather has estimated damages and economic losses at $135 billion to $150 billion, reflecting a difficult recovery and rising costs of homeowners insurance.

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara asked insurers on Friday to freeze pending non-renewals and cancellations that homeowners received before the fires started and extend a grace period for payments.

President Joe Biden declared the fire a major disaster and said the US government will reimburse 100% of the recovery for the next six months.