The NASA The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has been closed by the (United States) and has already claimed five fatalities.
“JPL is closed, except for emergency personnel. So far there has been no fire damage (some due to wind), but it is very close to the laboratory,” said NASA laboratory director Laurie Leshin. in a publication on the social network X, collected by Europa Press.
The director of JPL has explained that hundreds of members of the center “have been evacuated from their homes and many have lost their homes“. “A special thank you to our emergency teams. Please keep our thoughts in mind and stay safe,” he asked.
The still president of the United States, Joe Biden, has approved the declaration of a major disaster in the state of California and the mayor of Pasadena, Víctor Gordo, has stated that the community has “experienced a tremendous tragedy”, since more than 100,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders and another 100,000 are receiving evacuation recommendations because they are “in a danger zone.”
In it Los Angeles County has five active wildfiresthe largest being those in Palisades, which has burned more than 6,400 hectares, and Eaton, which has burned around 4,300 hectares. There are also active fires in Woodley, Hurst and Lidia.
The authorities do not know the origin of the flames and have opened an investigation into the matter. President Joe Biden, who has assured that authorities are doing everything possible, has declared a major disaster in the state, ordering federal aid to complement recovery efforts in the affected areas. The day before, the governor of California, Democrat Gavin Newsom, declared a state of emergency.
