By Nathan Frandino and Lisa Baertlein
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Dangerously high winds were expected to resume on Monday in Los Angeles, potentially hampering efforts to extinguish two stubborn wildfires that have leveled whole neighborhoods and claimed the lives of at least two dozen people.
Dry Santa Ana winds of up to 50 to 70 miles per hour (80 to 112 kph) were forecast to resume on Monday and persist through Wednesday, the National Weather Service said in issuing a “particularly dangerous situation” red flag warning.
In anticipation, California Governor Gavin Newsom said over the weekend that the state was pre-positioning firefighting in vulnerable areas including those around the Palisades and Eaton fires, the two largest blazes that have ignited in Southern California.
At least 24 people have died in the fires that began last Tuesday. The blazes have reduced whole neighborhoods to smoldering ruins, leaving an apocalyptic landscape. Officials said at least 12,300 structures have been damaged or destroyed.
Newsom said the firestorm could rank as the most devastating natural disaster in U.S. history, one that has destroyed thousands of homes and forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate.
Private forecaster AccuWeather has estimated the damage and economic loss at $135 billion to $150 billion.
The return of high winds threatens the hard-won progress that crews have made in containing the fires.
Over the weekend, aerial and land-based firefighters managed to stop the Palisades Fire as it encroached on the upscale Brentwood section and advanced toward the populous San Fernando Valley in the north.
That fire on the western side of the metropolis has consumed 23,713 acres (96 sq km) or 37 square miles and stood at 14% contained, a figure representing the percentage of the fire’s perimeter that firefighters have under control.
The Eaton Fire in the foothills east of Los Angeles has scorched 14,117 acres (57 sq km) or 22 square miles – itself nearly the size of Manhattan – but firefighters increased the containment to 33%.
North of the city, the Hurst Fire was 89% contained, and three other fires that had ravaged other parts of the county were now 100% contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) reported, though areas within the containment lines may still be burning.
CITY ON ALERT
In anticipation of high winds returning on Monday, officials have warned the entire Los Angeles County population of nearly 10 million to be ready to evacuate.
As of Sunday afternoon, more than 100,000 people in Los Angeles County were under an order to evacuate – down from a previous high of more than 150,000 – while another 87,000 faced evacuation warnings.
Active duty military personnel are ready to support the firefighting effort, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said in a series of Sunday television interviews, adding the agency has urged residents to begin filing for disaster relief.
Firefighters from seven states, Canada and Mexico have already converged on the Los Angeles area to help fire departments from around the state.
In Altadena on the edge of the Eaton Fire, Tristin Perez said he never left his home, defying police orders to evacuate as the fire raced down the hillside.
Instead, Perez insisted on trying to save his property and his neighbors’ homes.
“Your front yard is on fire, palm trees lit up – it looked like something out of a movie,” Perez told Reuters in an interview in his driveway. “I did everything I could to stop the line and save my house, help save their houses.”
(Reporting by Nathan Frandino and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien Editing by Nick Zieminski)
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