Los Angeles wildfire could be costliest in history

In Hollywood, a place full of some of the most expensive homes in the world, thousands have already burned. The fire shows no signs of slowing down.

Those that are devastating Los Angeles, which have already left at least 5 people dead and forced tens of thousands of people to flee, having already destroyed thousands of homes, have not yet been controlled.

Or climatologist Daniel Swain said, quoted by the fact that if this disaster is a “urban firestorm”, while reviewing live footage of the Eaton fire.

Only the two biggest fires have already burned an area of ​​approximately 100 km² — if we prefer, an area equivalent to the entire city of Lisbon.

Several celebrities lost their homes in Hollywood, where flames invade the area surrounding the iconic sign with white letters. Among them are Paris Hilton, actor Billy Crystal or Eugene Levy, says . Also athlete Gary Hall Jr. claims to have lost his ten Olympic medals during the fire, says .

Swain also said that he and several colleagues have calculated that the Palisades-area fire could become the costliest on record in the U.S. due to the number of burned structures and the fact that these homes are some of the most expensive in the world.

“We are looking at what, I think, could become the costliest fire disaster in California, if not national history, along with a host of other superlatives,” he assures.

One published in the magazine Science in October last year concluded that although only about 3% of fires in the US over a period of nearly two decades could be considered “flash fires”, these caused disproportionate damage.

“The most destructive and deadly wildfires in U.S. history were also fast-moving,” wrote the study authors, led by Jennifer Balch.

In fact, flash fires were, over the past 20 years, responsible for 78% of buildings destroyed by fire and 61% of suppression costs — that is, the equivalent of 18.35 billion euros, the scientists wrote.

Kelley said those made the Palisades especially susceptible to fast-spreading fires.

This is part of a growing phenomenon that Swain calls “hydroclimate whiplash” or “weather whiplash”.

Regarding financial damages, it will really be necessary to wait and see. But other irreparable damage is already being felt in Hollywood, causing despair among the population.