Strong winds forecast for Los Angeles threaten area’s fight against fires

LOS ANGELES — Additional water tankers and dozens of firefighters have arrived in the Los Angeles area ahead of heavy winds that are expected to return and threaten progress made so far in two areas. huge infernos who have thousands of homes destroyed and killed at least 24 people.

On Monday, planes showered homes and hillsides with bright pink fire-retardant chemicals, while crews and fire trucks were stationed with dry brush near particularly vulnerable spots. Dozens of water trucks came in to replenish supplies fire hydrants dried up last week when the two largest fires broke out.

Tabitha Trosen and her boyfriend said she feels like they’re teetering on the edge, with the constant fear that their neighborhood could be the next to be threatened.

“Our cats are ready to go, we have their carriers set up by the door with their little stuffed animals and things like that,” Trosen said, adding that she has been packing up items as she thinks about what she might lose. “It’s like, how do I take care of myself, and what are the things that are going to ground me as a human being and remind me of my background, my life and my family.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other officials — who have was criticized for their initial response to the fires that started last week – expressed confidence on Monday that the region was ready to meet the new threat with additional firefighters from across the US, as well as Canada and Mexico.

“We are definitely better prepared,” said LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone, when asked what will be different than a week ago, when hurricane winds pushed multiple fires across the island. the dried out, brush-filled area that hasn’t seen rain in more than eight months.

Since January 1, there have been more than a dozen wildfires in Southern California, mostly in the Los Angeles area. The latest started late Monday in a dry riverbed in Oxnard, about 55 miles (89 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles, and burned in a farm field.

According to the National Weather Service, winds are expected to increase beginning early Tuesday and continue until Wednesday afternoon. They are not expected to reach hurricane force as they did last week, but they could ground firefighting planes, Marrone said, warning that if winds reach 70 mph (112 kph), “it will be very difficult to to control that fire.”

Fire officials advised residents in high-risk areas to simply leave their homes — and not wait for formal evacuation orders — if they sense danger.

That’s exactly what Tim Kang of La Crescenta did last Wednesday. Feeling nauseous from the smoky air and fearful of the spread of fires in the area, Kang and his brothers packed up and stayed away from their area.

“Everything just felt like, ‘Oh man, the end of the world,’” said Kang, who is staying with his girlfriend in Pasadena.

In less than a week, four fires around the nation’s second-largest city have burned more than 100 square miles, about three times the size of Manhattan.

The National Weather Service warned the weather will be “particularly dangerous” on Tuesday, when gusts could reach 65 mph (105 kph). Much of Southern California around Los Angeles is under this extreme fire danger warning through Wednesday, including heavily populated Thousand Oaks, Northridge and Simi Valley.

The Eaton Fire near Pasadena is roughly contained a thirdwhile the largest fire in coastal Pacific Palisades is much less contained.

The death toll is likely to rise, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Monday. At least two dozen were missing, he said.

Luna said he understands people are eager to return to their homes and neighborhoods to inspect the damage, but he asked for their patience. “There are people literally looking for the remains of your neighbors,” he said.

At a community meeting Monday night about the Palisades Fire, a Los Angeles Police Department official said many people reported missing had been found. It was not clear if there was any overlap in the numbers shared by the sheriff.

Slower winds over the weekend allowed some people to return to previously evacuated areas. Many had no idea if their homes or neighborhoods were still standing.

Jim Orlandini, who lost his hardware store in Altadena, a hard-hit neighborhood next to Pasadena, said his home survived 40 years.

“The whole time I was thinking, I don’t know what I’m going to find when I come back here and after 40 years you have a lot of things that you forget that would disappear if the house burned down. . So we are grateful that this was not the case.”

LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley urged people to stay away from burned neighborhoods full of broken gas lines and unstable buildings.

Just under 100,000 people in Los Angeles County remained under evacuation orders, half the number from last week.

Firefighters battled flames in Mandeville Canyon — home to Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrities — this weekend after the Palisades Fire spread, prompting new evacuation orders. Crews continued to battle there Monday before possible strong winds could push the flames toward the famed J. Paul Getty Museum and the University of California, Los Angeles.

Beyoncé, Disney and others celebrities and entertainment organizations have pledged millions to help those who have displaced or lost their home. Other stars – and everyday people – have left large donations of clothes and other items on street corners around the city.

Dozens of people have been arrested for looting following the forest fires. Officials are now starting to see price gouging and scams, including with hotels and short-term rentals and medical supplies, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said.

The fires that started north of downtown LA on Tuesday have burned more than 12,000 houses, cars and other structures.

Authorities have not determined an official cause for any of the fires. Southern California Edison has acknowledged that agencies are investigating whether the equipment may have caused a smaller fire.

A lawsuit filed Monday claims the utility’s equipment caused the much larger Eaton Fire. Edison did not respond to a request for comment and said last week that it had not received any suggestion that its equipment had started the fire.

AccuWeather’s early estimates suggest the fires could be nationwide most expensive everwith a top value of $250 billion, including what will happen in the coming days. Reconstruction costs for commercial and residential properties in areas with active fires could reach $14.8 billion, according to real estate data tracker CoreLogic.

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Watson reported from San Diego and Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press journalists Jaimie Ding in Los Angeles, Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire, Julie Walker in New York, Sophia Tareen in Chicago, Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia, and Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming, contributed.