Fires rage around Los Angeles, burning entire streets

At least two people have been killed in the deadly wildfires raging around Los Angeles, authorities said Wednesday, as the deadly blaze scorched entire roads, destroyed cars and homes in minutes.

Wildfires around America’s second-largest city have destroyed more than 1,000 buildings and displaced tens of thousands of people.

Hurricane-force winds whipped up a fireball that bounced from house to house in the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood, scorching some of California’s most desirable real estate, a favorite destination for Hollywood celebrities.

“There is no percentage of containment. An estimated 1,000 structures have been destroyed and no residents were evacuated,” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Malone told reporters about the fire, which has burned 11,000 acres. Many people were seriously injured,” he said. (4,500 hectares).

A second major fire broke out in the Altadena neighborhood in the city’s north, with footage showing flames consuming roads in the suburbs in a blaze that has already burned 10,000 acres.

“We have more than 500 personnel and unfortunately, at this time, there have been two reported civilian deaths of unknown causes, and a number of serious injuries.More than 100 structures have been destroyed. ,” Marrone said.

Fire hydrants run out

Two other fires in the area were also straining resources.

Fierce gusts of wind pushed the flames up, sending red-hot embers hundreds of meters (yards) and igniting new blazes faster than firefighters could extinguish them.

Black smoke was billowing over Los Angeles like a giant storm cloud.

Downed trees and broken branches were hampering movement, and emergency managers urged residents to stay off roads to ease strain on the city’s creaking infrastructure.

Janice Quinones, chief executive of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, appealed to people to conserve water after fire hydrants in the Pacific Palisades dried up overnight.

She said the 3 million-gallon tank, which was used to supply more than 20,000 residents in the neighborhood, was depleted by 3 a.m. Wednesday.

“We really want our customers to conserve water…because fire departments need water to fight fires,” Quinones said.

“We’re using city water systems to fight wildfires, and it’s really difficult.”

President-elect Donald Trump claimed on social media platforms Wednesday that water shortages are a result of state environmental policies – falsely.

Repeating a fanciful claim he made during his first White House term, President Trump said stormwater was being diverted “to protect essentially worthless fish.”

In fact, much of Los Angeles’ water comes from the Colorado River, and the majority of all water flowing into Southern California is used for agriculture, not residential or firefighting purposes.

“Panic mode”

The first wildfire broke out on Tuesday morning and spread quickly, surprising many residents.

As of Wednesday, infections were still spreading, forcing more people to flee their homes.

Martin Sansing, 54, told AFP he had lived in the Santa Monica Valley for 20 years and had never seen anything like this.

“We’re in a pretty urban area. We’re not on a hill or anything. I never imagined we would be affected,” he said.

“I grew up in Los Angeles, and Malibu had fires every 10 or 15 years, but this area didn’t.”

Saralee Stevens Shippen, 69, spent the night at a friend’s house and returned to the canyon early in the morning to pick up some supplies.

“Yesterday around 8 o’clock, when I saw the light of the fire coming over the mountains, I took off. The fire had already jumped the nearby coastal road and the palm trees were on fire,” she said. spoke.

“You have to worry about ash in your lungs. You have to worry about your life with wind gusts of 80 to 160 miles per hour. We’re just in a state of panic.”

The museum said trees and vegetation around the Getty Villa were burned, but the building and collections, including Greek and Roman antiquities, were spared.

The fires occurred as the region was experiencing the Santa Ana monsoon, which forecasters said could develop into the worst storm in a decade, with wind gusts of up to 100 mph (160 kph). He said there is.

Wildfires are a part of life in the western United States and play an important role in nature.

But scientists argue that human-induced climate change is changing weather patterns.

Two decades of drought in Southern California, followed by two years of unusually rainy weather, triggered intense plant growth that loaded the area with fuel and set it on fire.

© 2025 AFP