Los Angeles wildfire spirals out of control, 30,000 homes evacuated; residents say never seen this before
Los Angeles wildfire: Officials did not give an exact number of structures damaged or destroyed in the Pacific Palisades wildfire, but they said about 30,000 residents were under evacuation orders and more than 13,000 structures were under threat.
Los Angeles: A fast-moving wildfire broke out on Tuesday in the inland foothills northeast of Los Angeles hours after another blaze tore through the city's Pacific Palisades neighbourhood along the coast, destroying many homes and prompting evacuation orders for tens of thousands. The Eaton fire in Altadena started near a nature preserve just before 6:30 p.m. The flames spread so rapidly that staff at a senior care centre had to push dozens of residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down the street to a parking lot where they waited in their bedclothes for ambulances and other vehicles to take them to safety.
To the west, the Pacific Palisades fire that started on Tuesday morning burned out of control into the night. The Los Angeles Fire Department put out a plea for off-duty firefighters to help fight the flames that were being pushed by winds topping 97 kph in some places and creating chaotic scenes as residents fled. It was too windy for firefighting aircraft to fly, hampering the fight.
Massive evacuation underway
The Pacific Palisades fire swept through a Los Angeles hillside dotted with celebrity residences on Tuesday, burning homes and prompting evacuation orders. In the frantic haste to get to safety, roadways were clogged and scores of people abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot, some toting suitcases. The traffic jam on Palisades Drive prevented emergency vehicles from getting through and a bulldozer was brought in to push the abandoned cars to the side and create a path, according to the LA Fire Department.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who was in Southern California to attend the naming of a national monument by President Joe Biden, made a detour to the canyon to see “firsthand the impact of these swirling winds and the embers,” and he said he found “not a few — many structures already destroyed.”
Worst could be yet to come
Officials did not give an exact number of structures damaged or destroyed in the Pacific Palisades wildfire, but they said about 30,000 residents were under evacuation orders and more than 13,000 structures were under threat. And the worst could be yet to come. The blaze began around 10:30 a.m., shortly after the start of a Santa Ana windstorm that the National Weather Service warned could be “life-threatening” and the strongest to hit Southern California in more than a decade. The exact cause of the fire was unknown and no injuries had been reported, officials said.
Only about 25 miles (about 40 kilometres) northeast of Altadena, the Eaton fire was burning. The winds were expected to increase overnight and continue for days, producing isolated gusts that could top 100 mph (160 kph) in mountains and foothills — including in areas that haven’t seen substantial rain in months. “By no stretch of the imagination are we out of the woods," Newsom warned residents, saying the worst of the winds are expected between 10 p.m. Tuesday and 5 a.m. Wednesday. He declared a state of emergency on Tuesday.
As of Tuesday evening, 28,300 households were without power due to the strong winds, according to the mayor’s office. About 15,000 utility customers in Southern California had their power shut off to reduce the risk of equipment sparking a blaze. A half a million customers total were at risk of losing power preemptively. The Pacific Palisades fire quickly consumed about 11.6 square kilometres of land in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood in western Los Angeles, sending up a dramatic plume of smoke visible across the city. Residents in Venice Beach, some 10 kilometres away, reported seeing the flames. It was one of several blazes across the area.
“It is crazy, it’s everywhere"
Adams, a local, said he had never witnessed anything like this in the 56 years he’s lived there. He watched as the sky turned brown and then black as homes started burning. He could hear loud popping and bangs “like small explosions,” which he said he believed were the transformers exploding. “It is crazy, it’s everywhere, in all the nooks and crannies of the Palisades. One home’s safe, the other one’s up in flames,” Adams said.
(With inputs from agency)
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