Five new fire fronts have erupted in Los Angeles ahead of the president’s visit to the area.
In particular, they took place on Thursday in Los Angeles, San Diego, Ventura and Riverside o – with the names Laguna, Sepulveda, Gibbel, Gilman and Border 2
Meanwhile, firefighters made progress in containing the 10,000-acre Hughes Fire in Los Angeles, containing it 36 percent since it broke out Wednesday.
Wildfires have ravaged the US state in recent weeks, with the Palisades and Eaton fires burning a combined total of more than 37,000 acres and killing at least 28 people.
Based on updates from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire):
- The Border 2 fire in San Diego is 800 acres. Evacuation orders are in effect.
- The Laguna Fire in Ventura, which covers 94 acres and is 70% contained.
- The Sepulveda Fire in Los Angeles is 45 acres and 60 percent contained. In an update posted on X, the Los Angeles Fire Department said it has contained the fire and evacuation orders have been lifted.
- The Gibbel Fire broke out in Riverside County, covering 15 acres. The fire crews, however, managed to stop the progress of the fire
- A fire called the Gilman Fire in San Diego covers two acres, but the progress of the fire has stopped.
Trump’s visit on Friday
America’s new president is due to visit Los Angeles on Friday to survey the damage from the fires. In fact, he has criticized the response to the wildfires and threatened to withhold federal aid if California does not change the way it manages water supplies, and he has criticized California Gov. Gavin Newsom. He has repeatedly made claims that the state has water problems because it diverts supplies to save a small fish called smelt.
When asked by the US media if he would defund the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Trump said: “. Sometimes that’s the only thing you can do. California is a great example of that.”
Brian Rice, president of the California Professional Firefighters Association, told the BBC he hoped Trump would not deny the state federal aid.
“The most important goal we have is to get federal aid to California, to these communities where people have lost their lives, their homes,” he said. “In the history of this country, federal disaster assistance has never been tied to if you do this, you’ll get that. That’s the conversation that’s happening, it’s never happened.”
The Hughes fire — the state’s third-largest after the Palisades and Eaton fires — forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate after it broke out Wednesday.
