Extensive wildfires around Los Angeles spread to the Hollywood Hills neighborhood on Wednesday. Other fires in the area they claimed the lives of at least five people and destroyed thousands of homes. As a result, firefighting resources and water supplies were reaching their limits. In endangered places ordered the evacuation of a total of 130,000 peoplewrites TASR according to Thursday’s AP news report.
A new fire broke out in the parched Hollywood Hills on Wednesday nightFire Chief Kristin Crowley said at a press conference. The situation required further evacuations, in several locations related to the entertainment industry.
Dolby Theater is also located in one of themin which the prestigious film awards of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – the Oscars – are presented. Organizers said they would delay next week’s announcement of nominations for the fire by two days.
There was also increasing the total number of fires in Los Angelesof which there are currently at least six. According to state authorities, four of them have not yet been brought under control at all.
The Hollywood Hills fire is relatively small, but burning above the famous Hollywood Boulevard and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. If he were to cross the 101 freeway, it could also threaten the Hollywood sign and the Griffith Observatory.
In west Los Angeles, the fire burned 6,406 hectares and hundreds of structures on the hills between the cities of Santa Monica and Malibu.
At the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains in the east of the city the fire burned another 4,289 hectares and over a thousand buildings. According to local authorities, at least five people died there. At the same time, the police detained three people for robbery.
According to the AP agency, they also burned down homes of Hollywood actors Leighton Meester and Adam Brody. It also happened to the destruction of the properties of actor and writer Billy Crystal, singer Mandy Moore and model Paris Hilton.
AccuWeather is a private weather company estimated initial damage and economic losses at more than $50 billion. According to PowerOutage.us, nearly 300,000 homes and businesses were still without power in Los Angeles County.
The fires in California were sparked by a combination of drought and strong windsreaching a speed of 120 kilometers per hour in impacts. The latter contributes to the spread of fire in city streets. Wind gusts were expected to peak Thursday night local time, according to Governor Gavin Newsom.
Meteorological services have been predicting the risk of forest fires in California for several days. This is a situation that is surprising in the middle of winter and exacerbated by the seasonally hot and dry Santa Ana winds, usually occurring in the fall and winter.
