Firefighters continued to battle into Saturday night in an attempt to control massive wildfires in Los Angeles as winds increased, pushing flames into previously pristine neighborhoods.
At least 16 people were confirmed dead as fires swept through the city, leaving communities in ruins and testing the mettle of thousands of firefighters and millions of California residents.
Despite heroic efforts, including precision strikes by aerial crews, the Palisades Fire continued to grow Saturday, moving east toward the priceless collections of the Getty Center art museum and north toward the densely populated Valley. of San Fernando.
“We’re a nervous wreck,” Sarah Cohen told the Los Angeles Times of the threat to his home in Tarzana. “Every time they throw water, it gets better. But then it gets worse again.”
Images from the Mandeville Canyon area showed a house consumed, with a wall of flames licking a hillside to threaten others.
A brief lull in the wind was quickly giving way to gusts that forecasters warned would fuel the flames in the coming days.
“Unfortunately, critical fire weather conditions will increase again today in Southern California and will last at least through early next week,” the National Weather Service said.
“This can lead to the spread of ongoing fires, as well as the development of new ones.”
Row
The Palisades Fire was 11 percent contained Saturday but had grown to 23,600 acres, while the Eaton Fire was at 14,000 acres and 15 percent contained.
Official figures show more than 12,000 structures burned, but Cal Fire’s Todd Hopkins said not all were homes and the figure would also include outbuildings, recreational vehicles and sheds.
The sudden rush of people needing a new place to live in the coming months seemed destined to make life difficult for the city’s already squeezed renters.
“I’m back on the market with tens of thousands of people,” said a man who identified himself as Brian, whose rent-controlled apartment burned down. “That doesn’t bode well.”
In the face of reports of looting and a nightly curfew, police and the National Guard have set up checkpoints to prevent people from entering disaster zones.
But that has left residents frustrated as they queue for up to 10 hours to try to return and see what, if anything, remains of their homes.
A woman, who identified herself as Janelle, told the station KTLA He knew his house was gone, but he needed “closure.”
“I see the photos, I see the videos and I just want to see it with my own eyes,” he said, his voice breaking.
The long lines left some people furious about mismanagement, the latest complaint from a population already angry about hydrants that ran dry in the initial shooting.
City officials formed a united front Saturday after reports of a behind-the-scenes dispute and suggestions that Mayor Karen Bass had fired her fire chief.
“As you can see here, the chief and I are in unison on our number one mission, and that mission is to get us through this emergency,” Bass told reporters.
A joint, at times tense, news conference ensued after Chief Kristin Crowley complained that her fire department was short of cash.
Among those known to have died in the tragedy was former Australian child star Rory Sykes, who appeared on the British television show “Kiddy Kapers” in the 1990s.
“It is with great sadness that I have to announce the passing of my beautiful son. [Rory Sykes] to the Malibu fires yesterday. “I am totally heartbroken,” his mother Shelley Sykes wrote on social media.
Teams with cadaver dogs were sifting through the rubble, several people are known to be missing and the death toll is feared to rise.
Investigation
A large investigation was underway to determine what caused the fires, involving the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), along with local authorities, the County Sheriff said. Los Angeles, Robert Luna.
“We are not going to leave any stone unturned,” he said.
“If this is a criminal act, I’m not saying it will be, if it is, we must hold whoever did this or the groups responsible,” Luna added, asking that anyone with information come forward.
While the start of a wildfire can be deliberate, it is often natural and a vital part of the life cycle of an environment.
But urban sprawl increasingly puts people at risk, and the changing climate—supercharged by humanity’s uncontrolled use of fossil fuels—is exacerbating the conditions that lead to destructive fires.
