The fire spreads through Los Angeles. To the four that surround the city (Palisades, Eaton, Hurst and Lidia), which cover the west, east and north, a fifth has been added in the Hollywood Hills. The accidents have left five dead, devastated almost 11,000 hectares and forced the evacuation of almost 100,000 people in the Californian megalopolis. The new fire, called Sunsetis advancing rapidly and threatens a densely populated area where some of the symbols of the city are located, gripped by the most dangerous flames in its history. The authorities have indicated that the red alert for the entire metropolitan region, of nearly ten million people, will remain in place until Friday.
“We need an immediate evacuation of all people. There is no time to lose, it is mandatory,” said Margaret Stuart, spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department, on Wednesday afternoon, referring to the fire. Sunset. The orders affect those who live east of Highway 101, north of Mulholland Drive and south of Hollywood Boulevard, a central region. These orders are added to the calls to evacuate that already affect 70,000 people in Altadena and Pasadena (fire Eaton), and another 60,000 in Pacific Palisades and Malibu (fire Palisades).
The area threatened by Sunsetwhich originated at 5:30 p.m. and doubled in size in a few minutes, includes some of the best-known parts of Los Angeles, such as the Walk of Fame, the and the Chinese Palace, the stage where . The call from the authorities caused the early closure of businesses in the area, usually crowded with tourists.
The authorities quickly mobilized a pair of helicopters to assist in the fight against the Sunseta key asset that could not be used in the rest of the fires. Air combat helped stop the advance of the new fire within a couple of hours. However, the flames reached some homes in Studio City, north of Los Angeles and in the San Fernando Valley.
In Runyon Canyon, one of the most famous parks in Hollywood, a popular hiking route, there were half a dozen fire crews putting out the fire. The curious arrived at the door along with influencers who streamed the event to their followers. Firefighters have brought their hoses to the park’s entrance gate on Fuller Street. After half past eight in the afternoon, they left the area because they were needed in another area.
“We are not out of the woods,” Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said Wednesday afternoon, warning that most of the fires ravaging the region would remain active at night. The fire Palisades continue representing the greatest threat and is the one that has caused the most destruction. Its flames have consumed more than 1,000 structures, most of them residences and businesses along the Pacific coast.
More than a thousand firefighters have been fighting non-stop on the ground for more than 24 hours. Even so, the two main fires affecting the city remain out of control. He Eaton and the Palisades They had barely been contained until Wednesday night, according to authorities. Those responsible for emergencies were optimistic and assured that the wind will subside in the next few hours, which may give a respite to firefighters who are also fighting against the Hurst and the Lidialocated north of the San Fernando Valley.
The expected maximum wind speeds are around 32 kilometers per hour, much softer than those that blew on Tuesday night, up to 140 kilometers. These winds have been the main obstacle on all fronts.
“Last night we could have had more water in the hydrants, but with those winds we would not have been able to extinguish the fire. Those gusts made it impossible,” said Chad Augustin, the fire chief of Pasadena, where they are fighting against Eatonwhich has destroyed between 200 and 500 structures east of the city and has devastated 4,000 hectares since yesterday afternoon.
Now that the air allows it, the Government of California has reinforced the aerial fleet that will be able to combat the fires of Eaton y Palisades. 16 helicopters equipped to operate at night and seven tanker aircraft have been mobilized.
Augustin assured that his men are “exhausted” and thanked the reinforcements that have arrived from other regions of the United States. Almost all the Western States: Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington, have sent fire units to join the small army of 1,700 firefighters fighting the flames.
First reviews
The fire has not been controlled, but the first criticism of the authorities’ initial response is beginning to emerge. At the center of this is the Department of Water and Power (DWP), the local utility company. The company’s water tanks in the Pacific Palisades area ran out of water by three a.m. Wednesday, affecting the work of hundreds of firefighters, who had trouble getting water from hydrants in higher areas. of the mountain.
The company stated this Wednesday that the supply was affected by a “tremendous demand” caused by users who fought the advance of the flames with their domestic hoses. “It was a demand four times normal for 15 hours in a row, that was what lowered the water pressure,” said the DWP chief engineer, who stated that before the event the 114 tanks in the region were full.
The service company also suspended service to 183,000 people with precautionary cuts to prevent new fires. Added to the figure are another 230,000 people who were left without power due to the strong winds. Another 400,000 were on alert for service suspension.
When the smoke from the fires clears, the damage to the city will be better quantified. The AccuWeather company preliminarily estimates that the economic impact of these fires could be around $57 billion.
The Los Angeles School District, the second largest in the country only after New York, has suspended classes for this Thursday at its more than a thousand campuses, which will leave half a million students at home. The authorities will distribute food for students with fewer resources.
