(Los Angeles) At least five people died in violent fires fueled by powerful winds that raged Wednesday in Los Angeles, forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee and destroying many buildings.
This human toll could get even worse, announced Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, adding that the situation was “still very unstable”.
Firefighters are battling four simultaneous fires in the Californian metropolitan area (western United States), notably in Pacific Palisades, an upscale neighborhood where Hollywood celebrities live.
The fire broke out there on Tuesday and had covered nearly 6,500 hectares by Wednesday. In its path, it destroyed some 1,000 buildings, according to Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone, who assured that the fire was out of control.
“We do not have enough firefighters in Los Angeles County to deal with this situation,” lamented Mr. Marrone, while 70,000 people are affected by evacuation orders.
In Altadena, north of Los Angeles, where the fire covered some 4,300 hectares after also starting on Tuesday, William Gonzales returned to see his home, evacuated the day before.
PHOTO ETHAN SWOPE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The fire broke out late Tuesday morning in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.
He confided to AFP “having lost almost everything”: “The flames have engulfed our dreams. There’s nothing left but ashes here. »
Jesus Hernandez assures that his house, like the many others devoured by the blaze, “is no longer worth anything”. “To see them go (in flames) in a matter of seconds is really sad,” he said.
“Mortal danger”
Towering plumes of black smoke rise above the second largest city in the United States, with the acrid smell of burning in the air.
PHOTO ETHAN SWOPE, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
A house burned by a forest fire in Los Angeles, January 7, 2025.
Residents were urged by authorities to conserve water as three reservoirs supplying fire hydrants were emptied by the fight against flames in Pacific Palisades.
“Fighting these fires with urban water systems is a real challenge,” said the head of the municipal water and electricity service (LADWP), Janisse Quinones.
The so-called Santa Ana warm winds, typical of Californian winter, are expected to blow up to 160 km/h in the region on Wednesday, according to the US Weather Service (NWS). Enough to spread the flames very quickly and pose a “mortal danger”.
In addition to the winds, meteorologist Daniel Swain points in particular to “the lack of rain and the abnormal heat and drought for six months” to explain these disasters.
In this very delicate context, firefighters are also operating on two other fires, around Santa Clarita and in the San Fernando Valley.
President Joe Biden, traveling to California, visited them on Wednesday in a barracks in Santa Monica. He promised to do everything, “as long as it takes,” to contain these fires.
On his Truth Social platform, President-elect Donald Trump attacked California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, one of his pet peeves.
He named him as “responsible” for this “real catastrophe” by claiming – falsely – that the lack of water the state was suffering from was due to his environmental policies, repeating his fanciful remarks according to which rainwater was diverted to protect a “useless fish”.
Ceremony postponed
In the city of the film and entertainment industry, the fires have led to the cancellation of events and closures of sites, such as that of the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park.
PHOTO JOSH EDELSON, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Warm Santa Ana winds, typical of California’s winter, are expected to blow up to 100 mph in the region Tuesday and Wednesday, potentially making the fires worse.
The Critics Choice Awards ceremony, one of the events of the annual awards season in Hollywood, which was to take place on Sunday, was postponed by the organizers.
The nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG), the awards of the American actors’ union, had to be announced by press release and not in public, as initially planned.
Several Hollywood celebrities are among the tens of thousands of people ordered to evacuate.
Known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the saga Star WarsMark Hamill announced on Instagram that he had to leave his house in Malibu, a city popular with stars, on Tuesday.
Large winter fires are very rare in California. The University of Louvain’s disaster database has only recorded two since 2000: the Thomas Fire in 2017 (1,102 km²) and the Gavilan Fire in 2002, much less extensive (23 km²) but which had caused evacuations and minor injuries.
Scientists regularly point out that climate change is increasing the frequency of extreme weather events.
Two tankers from Quebec and their crews are already in California
Two tanker planes from Quebec and their crews are already in California to help fight the gigantic forest fires ravaging the Los Angeles region.
Stéphane Caron, of the Society for the Protection of Forests against Fire (SOPFEU), clarified on Wednesday that these two CL-415 planes are sent to the United States every fall as part of an annual contract. But due to the urgency of the situation, the duration of this loan was extended this year.
Mr. Caron indicated that each air tanker is dispatched from Quebec with its own crew made up of a pilot, a co-pilot and a technician.
The Canadian Press
