LOS ANGELES: The largest of the wildfires that have devastated parts of Los Angeles was reported to have changed direction Saturday, prompting more evacuation orders and posing a new challenge for exhausted firefighters.
Six simultaneous fires that have swept through Los Angeles County neighborhoods since Tuesday have killed at least 11 people and damaged or destroyed 10,000 structures. The death toll is expected to rise as firefighters are able to conduct house-to-house searches, as official recriminations over responsibility for the disaster began.
Although the fierce Santa Ana winds that fanned the infernos subsided Friday night, the Palisades Fire on the city’s western edge was headed in a new direction, prompting another evacuation order as it moved toward the neighborhood of Brentwood and the foothills of the San Fernando Valley, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“The Palisades Fire has had a significant new outbreak on the east side and is continuing toward the northeast,” Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott told local station KTLA, according to a report on the Los Angeles Times website.
Los Angeles fire chief says his department is still understaffed and underfunded
The fire, the most destructive in Los Angeles history, has devastated entire neighborhoods, leaving only the smoldering ruins of what had been people’s homes and possessions.
Before the latest outbreak, firefighters had reported progress in extinguishing the Palisades and Eaton fires in the hills east of the metropolis after they burned out of control for days. As of Friday night, the Palisades Fire was 8% contained and the Eaton Fire was 3% contained, the state Cal Fire agency said.
The two large fires combined had consumed 35,000 acres.
About 153,000 people remained under evacuation orders and another 166,800 faced evacuation warnings with a curfew in all evacuation zones, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
Seven neighboring states, the federal government and Canada have rushed aid to California, beefing up aerial crews dropping water and fire retardant on burning hills and ground crews attacking fire lines with hand tools and hoses.
Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley blamed her department for the funding cuts and said fox news subsidiary KTTV: “We still lack personnel, we still lack resources and we still lack funds.”
Meanwhile, emergency managers apologized after false evacuation alerts were mistakenly sent to millions of mobile phones, sparking panic. “I can’t express how sorry I am,” said Kevin McGowan, director of the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management.
And aviation authorities were investigating who had piloted an illegal drone that collided with a water-spewing plane, tearing a fist-sized hole in the plane and knocking it out of action.
President Biden also made a veiled attack on President-elect Donald Trump, who has spread misinformation about the flames that has then been amplified on social media. “There will be a lot of demagogues trying to take advantage of it,” Biden said of the fires.
As Angelenos grapple with the harrowing ruin, anger has grown over officials’ preparedness and response, particularly over a series of false evacuation alarms and after hydrants ran dry as firefighters battled the initial blazes.
Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a “full independent review” of the city’s utilities and described the lack of water supply during the initial fires as “deeply concerning.” “We need answers to how that happened,” he wrote in an open letter.
President Joe Biden, who declared the fires a major disaster, said the US government would reimburse 100% of the recovery over the next six months.
Published in Amanecer, January 12, 2025.
