Los Angeles authorities had to implement a curfew between 6 pm (11 pm, Brasília time) on Thursday, 9th, and 6 am (11 am, Brasília time) this Friday, 10th. to prevent looting amid the wildfires raging across Southern California. According to Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, 20 people were arrested in fire zones after reports of robberies.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday approved a request from Los Angeles County for the California National Guard to assist law enforcement during the wildfires.
The threat of new fires driven by strong Santa Ana winds continues to harm Southern California this Friday, amid efforts by firefighters to contain the flames that killed at least 10 people and destroyed thousands of homes and structures this week.
Size
The size of the burned region is devastating. There are more than 142 km², an area slightly larger than the west zone of the city of SP.
A new fire, the Kenneth Fire, started Thursday night in West Hills, north of Calabasas, and quickly grew to 4 km² in a matter of hours.
The two largest fires in the region have not yet been fully contained. The Palisades Fire, measuring almost 81 km², destroyed more than 5,000 structures, many of them in Pacific Palisades, on the west side of Los Angeles.
Continues after advertising
The Eaton fire, near Altadena and Pasadena, destroyed around 5,000 structures and burned an area of 55 km², according to information from the fire department.
The numbers place the fires among the five most destructive in California history.
Climatic conditions
The National Weather Service said it expected “critical red flag” fire weather conditions to continue across much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties through Friday because of low humidity and Santa Ana winds.
Continues after advertising
The winds, the service said, while not as strong as earlier this week, had increased in strength after weakening on Thursday.
The rapid spread of fires this week has stretched local and state resources.
United States President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the federal government would pay for 100% of the region’s firefighting expenses for the next 180 days, pledging the full support of his administration – and his successor – to help contain the fires.
Continues after advertising
Trip cancellation
Biden canceled his trip to Rome, Italy, which would have been his last visit abroad during his presidency, due to the fires in California. The Democrat was supposed to leave on Thursday afternoon to have meetings with the Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, Pope Francis, as well as a personal meeting with the president of Ukraine, Volodmir Zelenski.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the cancellation decision was made following Biden’s visit to Los Angeles, where he met with police, firefighters and emergency responders and approved the declaration of Great Disaster for California.
