The number of victims of devastating fires in the US state of California increased to 16 during the night on Sunday. This was reported by the local authorities, which are referred to by the AFP and AP agencies, writes TASR.
Los Angeles County Medical Examiner published a list of the victims without giving details of their identities. The document states that five dead were found in the hard-hit Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles and 11 in the Pasadena area.
The fire in the Palisades area, despite the intensive efforts of firefighters during Saturday failed to stop and the fire is moving further east towards the densely populated San Fernando Valley.
As a result of extensive fires already more than 180,000 people had to leave their homes, including many Hollywood stars and other celebrities. The largest fire consumed around 9,500 hectares of land in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood. Another forest fire destroyed the city Altadena lying to the north from Los Angeles an area exceeding 5500 hectares.
According to the AP agency, some neighborhoods of Los Angeles resemble scenes from war movies. Large parts of several of them were almost completely destroyed and the houses leveled to the ground. According to official estimates, already fires destroyed 12,000 buildings and shelters.
The U.S. National Weather Service said ideal weather conditions for wildfires will last until at least early next week. “This can lead to the spread of ongoing fires as well as the creation of new ones,” meteorologists said.
