Dangerously high winds were set to return to Los Angeles on Monday, jeopardising efforts to extinguish two large wildfires that have levelled neighbourhoods, destroyed thousands of buildings and claimed the lives of at least two dozen people.
Dry Santa Ana winds of up to 80-112km/h were forecast to resume on Monday and persist through Wednesday, according to the US National Weather Service, which issued a “particularly dangerous situation” red flag warning, the agency’s most serious fire alert.
Fire crews were able to keep the fires from spreading overnight and were preparing for increased winds in the days ahead, officials said at a press conference on Monday.
“We are not in the clear,” Los Angeles city fire chief Kristin Crowley said. “We must not let our guard down, as we have right now extreme fire behaviour.”
Officials said the state was positioning firefighting crews in vulnerable areas, including around the Palisades and Eaton fires, the two largest blazes burning on either side of Los Angeles. More than 8,500 firefighting personnel are assigned to those two fires.
Los Angeles County fire chief Anthony Marrone said firefighters were “absolutely better prepared” for extreme winds this week, after the fires grew rapidly last week following similar dire warnings from forecasters.
There were more personnel on the ground and additional firefighting aircraft in the air, he said, though he acknowledged that nothing was guaranteed.
“We’re never sure that we’re going to be able to catch the next fire and keep it small,” he said. “They said 70-mile-an-hour [112km/h] winds. It’s going to be very difficult to contain that fire.”
At least 24 people have died in the fires, which began last Tuesday, and more than 150,000 residents have been forced to flee their homes. More than two dozen people are reported missing, authorities said.
Deputies are finding human remains every day as they search through the burned-out parts of Altadena, where the Eaton fire first ignited, Los Angeles County sheriff Robert Luna said.
“It is a very grim task,” Mr Luna said, adding that he expected the confirmed death toll to rise in the days ahead.
The blazes have reduced entire neighbourhoods to smouldering ruins, leaving an apocalyptic landscape. California governor Gavin Newsom has said the firestorm could rank as the most devastating natural disaster in US history. Private forecaster AccuWeather has estimated the damage and economic loss at $135 billion (€132 billion) to $150 billion.
The return of high winds threatens the hard-won progress that crews have made in containing the fires.
Over the weekend, aerial and land-based firefighters managed to stop the Palisades Fire as it encroached on the upscale Brentwood section and advanced toward the populous San Fernando Valley in the north.
That fire on the western side of the metropolis has consumed 95 sq km, and stood at 14 per cent contained, a figure representing the percentage of the fire’s perimeter that firefighters have under control.
The Eaton Fire in the foothills east of Los Angeles has scorched 57 sq km, but firefighters increased the containment to 33 per cent.
Together, the Palisades and Eaton fires have burned an area nearly the size of Washington, DC.
North of the city, the Hurst Fire was 89 per cent contained, and three other fires that had ravaged other parts of the county were now 100 per cent contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported, though areas within the containment lines may still be burning.
Los Angeles residents, even those far from the fires, were urged to wear N95 masks when outside due to the smoke.
City police and county sheriff’s deputies have arrested dozens of people in recent days for violating curfews and evacuation orders, for burglary and shoplifting, for flying unauthorised drones and in at least one case for impersonating a firefighter, officials said.
In anticipation of high winds returning on Monday, officials have warned the entire Los Angeles County population of nearly 10 million to be ready to evacuate.
As of Monday morning, more than 92,000 people in Los Angeles County were under an order to evacuate – down from a previous high of more than 150,000 – while another 89,000 faced evacuation warnings.
Active duty military personnel are ready to support the firefighting effort. Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Deanne Criswell told MSNBC on Monday that residents who were out of harm’s way could begin applying for federal assistance, and that agency staffers were going to local shelters to help people get aid.
Firefighters from seven states, Canada and Mexico have converged on the Los Angeles area to help fire departments from around the state.
In Altadena on the edge of the Eaton Fire, Tristin Perez said he never left his home, defying police orders to evacuate as the fire raced down the hillside.
Instead, Mr Perez insisted on trying to save his property and his neighbours’ homes.
“Your front yard is on fire, palm trees lit up – it looked like something out of a movie,” Mr Perez said in an interview in his driveway. “I did everything I could to stop the line and save my house, help save their houses.” – Reuters
