LA faces “extreme fire danger” as high winds forecast

The winds that sparked fires in the US city of Los Angeles are again expected to blow in the early hours of Wednesday – after a 25th death from the huge fire in a week was confirmed.

Forecasters have again identified an area of ​​”extreme fire danger”, emphasizing the level of risk in a region north-west of the city centre.

The expected increase in wind speed threatens to further fuel the remaining four blazes, which firefighters have made more progress in tackling during a few days of calmer conditions.

There are hopes of another drop in wind speed after Wednesday – but officials have highlighted the need for rain that would help fire crews in their battle.

The 25th death was confirmed by the LA County Medical Examiner’s Office. Thirteen other people remain missing.

Most of the victims died in the Eaton fire, which has burned more than 14,000 hectares north of the city, but is now 35% contained by firefighters.

Further west, the larger Palisades Fire has burned more than 23,000 acres, and is now at 18% containment. Two smaller fires also continue to burn.

Some of the victims of the Eaton Fire have now been allowed to return to their homes, although officials say they do not have a firm date for repopulating the Palisades area, an upscale area devastated by the fire to which it lent its name.

Tens of thousands of people are therefore still under evacuation orders – where night curfews also apply – and thousands of homes have been destroyed in one of the costliest natural disasters in American history.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass described the scenes as “unimaginable,” vowing to exercise her executive powers to trigger rapid reconstruction efforts.

Establishing other measures to help locals, another official, the supervisor of the County of LA, said that an emergency proclamation would be issued to prevent an alleged price increase by the owners of LA in the middle of the crisis.

Wednesday’s critical conditions are due to the effects of moderate to locally strong Santa Ana winds coupled with very low humidity, BBC weather forecaster Sarah Keith-Lucas said.

Winds are expected to peak again at 03:00 local time (11:00 GMT) for a period of twelve hours, according to the local office of the National Weather Service (NWS). Gusts could reach 50 mph (80 km/h).

Compared to last week’s conditions, winds are “weaker but still strong,” the NWS warns.

Therefore, areas northwest of Los Angeles – including Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks – were considered particularly dangerous.

But an improvement in conditions is expected after Thursday and Friday. Despite a change in winds, no precipitation is expected for at least next week, added BBC forecaster Sarah Keith-Lucas. And the Santa Ana winds that have been blamed for attacking the flames could develop again by Sunday.

The Pasadena City Fire Chief responded to the emergency.

There had been “no real rain in southern California” for more than 250 days, Chad Augustin told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

On Wednesday, its firefighters will be “on call ready to make sure we maintain our containment lines and don’t burn any more structures,” Augustin added.