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Los Angeles:
Winds were expected to drop around Los Angeles on Friday, fueling a massive effort to battle five major wildfires raging around America’s second-largest city.
At least 10 people have died in one of California’s worst-ever disasters as neighborhood fires destroyed thousands of homes, with an estimated $150 billion bill.
As the scale of the damage began to come into focus, people suffered from heart-wrenching devastation.
“I lost everything. My house burned down and I lost everything,” Hester Calwell, who fled her Altadena home to a shelter, told AFP.
As looting and crime increased, California Governor Gavin Newsom deployed the National Guard to bolster law enforcement and troops were on the streets, with Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna also in some areas. Curfew was imposed at night.
“The curfew will be strictly enforced and is being taken to enhance public safety, protect property and prevent any theft or looting in the area which has been vacated by residents,” he said. “
Anyone who violates the rule could be jailed, Luna said, stressing that “we’re not messing around with it.”
The California Fire Agency reports that five separate fires have burned more than 35,000 acres (14,000 hectares) so far.
‘Death and Destruction’
The largest fire has consumed more than 20,000 acres, where firefighters say they are beginning to contain the blaze.
As of Friday morning, eight percent of its circumference was contained — meaning it could no longer expand in that direction.
The Eaton Fire in the Altadena area was three percent contained, burning about 14,000 acres and threatening key infrastructure — including communications towers at Mount Wilson.
A third fire that broke out Thursday afternoon near Calabasas and the affluent Hidden Hills enclave, home to celebrities like Kim Kardashian, added to the sense of encirclement.
“You just feel surrounded,” one woman told a local broadcaster.
But after a massive response to the blaze, including retardant drops from planes and helicopters, which dumped large amounts of water, the blaze was 35 percent contained, firefighters said Friday.
Some of those displaced from their homes returned to find scenes of destruction.
Kellan Astor, a 36-year-old paralegal, said his mother’s home was spared the fire’s apparently random and chaotic destruction. But this was not the case in many other houses.
“Now the scene is one of death and destruction,” he told AFP. “I don’t know if anyone can come back for a while.”
An AFP overflight of Pacific Palisades and Malibu revealed mile after mile of dead.
‘heartbroken’
“It’s crazy … they all went home,” said helicopter pilot Albert Azuz.
On Malibu’s most popular oceanfront plots, the skeletal frames of buildings bore the brunt of the fire, with multimillion-dollar mansions completely gone.
Socialite and hotel heiress Paris Hilton was among those whose homes were lost.
“Dil tota hai beyond words” he wrote on Instagram.
“Sitting with your family, watching the news, and watching your home in Malibu burn to the ground live on TV is something no one should have to experience.
“This home was where we made many precious memories.”
The fires may be the costliest ever recorded, with AccuWeather estimating total loss and damage between $135 billion and $150 billion.
In addition to the immediate carnage, the lives of millions of people in the area were disrupted: schools were closed, hundreds of thousands were without power and major events were canceled or, in the case of the NFL playoff game between the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings. I, transferred to another place.
National Weather Center meteorologist Mike Wofford told AFP that winds will ease on Friday and Saturday, giving firefighters a prime opportunity.
“We’re seeing a little bit of a drop right now, but there’s been more wind during the afternoon today, and then tomorrow, not much wind until the end of the day,” he said.
“Definitely, good news,” he said, but cautioned that it will remain dry and winds are expected to return.
Wildfires occur naturally, but scientists say human-caused climate change is altering the weather and altering fire dynamics.
Two wet years in Southern California have given way to a very dry year, leaving plenty of fuel dry and ready to burn.
(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
