LOS ANGELES: The largest of the raging wildfires that have devastated parts of Los Angeles this week was reported to have shifted direction on Saturday, triggering more evacuation orders and posing a new challenge to exhausted firefighters.
Six simultaneous blazes that have ripped across Los Angeles County neighbourhoods since Tuesday have killed at least 11 people and damaged or destroyed 10,000 structures. The toll is expected to mount when firefighters can conduct house-to-house searches.
The fierce Santa Ana winds that fanned the infernos eased. But the Palisades Fire on the city’s western edge was heading in a new direction, prompting another evacuation order as it edged towards the Brentwood neighborhood and the San Fernando Valley foothills, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“The Palisades fire has got a new significant flare-up on the eastern portion and continues to northeast,” LA Fire Department Captain Erik Scott told local station KTLA, according to a report on the LA Times website.
The fire, the most destructive in the history of Los Angeles, has razed whole neighbourhoods to the ground, leaving just the smouldering ruins of what had been people’s homes and possessions.
The two big fires combined had consumed 35,000 acres (14,100 hectares), or 54 square miles – 2-1/2 times the land area of Manhattan.
Some 153,000 people remained under evacuation orders and another 166,800 faced evacuation warnings with a curfew in place for all evacuation zones, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
Seven neighbouring states, the federal government and Canada have rushed aid to California, bolstering aerial teams dropping water and fire retardant on the flaming hills and crews on the ground attacking fire lines with hand tools and hoses.
The National Weather Service said that conditions in the Los Angeles area would improve through the weekend, with sustained winds slowing to about 20 mph (32 kph), gusting between 35 mph and 50 mph,
“It’s not as gusty, so that should help firefighters,” NWS meteorologist Allison Santorelli said, adding that conditions were still critical with low humidity and dry vegetation.
Cal Fire said there was a chance of strong winds again on Tuesday.
“There will continue to be a high likelihood of critical fire weather conditions through next week,” it said.
Officials have declared a public health emergency due to the thick, toxic smoke.
Pacific Palisades residents who ventured back to their devastated neighbourhoods were shocked to find brick chimneys looming over charred waste and burnt-out vehicles as acrid smoke lingered in the air.
Many Altadena residents said they were worried government resources would go to wealthier areas and that insurers might short-change those who cannot afford to contest denials of fire claims.
Beyond those who lost their homes, tens of thousands remained without power, and millions of people were exposed to poorer air quality, as the fires lofted traces of metals, plastics and other synthetic materials.
Private forecaster AccuWeather estimated the damage and economic loss at $135 billion to $150 billion, portending an arduous recovery and soaring homeowners’ insurance costs.
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara called on insurers to suspend pending non-renewals and cancellations that homeowners received before the fires began and to extend the grace period for payments.
Meanwhile, the speed and intensity of the blazes ravaging Los Angeles have put its firefighting infrastructure to the test — and given rise to questions and criticism surrounding preparedness.
Hydrants ran dry in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood as it was ravaged by one of the region´s five separate fires, while water shortages additionally hampered efforts elsewhere.
Calling the lack of water and water pressure “deeply troubling,” Newsom directed state officials to prepare an independent report on the causes.
Chris Sheach, assistant professor of disaster management at Paul Smith´s College in New York State, told AFP part of the problem is that the city´s fire-fighting infrastructure wasn´t designed for enormous multi-acre conflagrations.
Also, Los Angeles fire chief Kristin Crowley has said a lack of resources hampers her city.
She said this included the need for 62 new fire stations amid a 55 percent increase in call volume since 2010.
US President-elect Donald Trump, has launched a series of evidence-free broadsides accusing Governor Newsom of a variety of failings. He has even blamed a lack of water on environmentalists´ efforts to protect the smelt—a small fish that lives hundreds of miles away from the fires.
