Los Angeles Wildfires LIVE Updates:
Los Angeles transformed into a warzone on Wednesday as fierce gusts from Santa Ana winds added fuel to the already uncontrollable raging fires in the region. Several houses as well as notable sites such as the Temescal Canyon along with some sections of Palisades Charter High school were reduced to ashes in Pacific Palisades, an area famous for its high-end properties. Smoke surrounded the whole city, and its visibility was estimated to be several miles.
Evacuations and widespread destruction:
To make matters worse, North if the foothills had to also be evacuated in haste due to the uncontrolled fires at the edge of nature reserves. Elderly people, most of them in wheelchairs, were stranded in the parking lots as the fires drew closer. In Pacific Palisades, roadblocks and abandoned cars further complicated the evacuation orders, which left rescue workers no choice but to use bulldozers to create escape routes.
The 100 mph winds along with dry weather intensified the fires even more, further adding to the 30,000 already displaced people and affecting around 200,000 residents due to power outages. All these things overwhelmed the emergency response teams. Aerial fire-fighting assistance was rendered useless due to the wild winds in the area and the ground workers had to shoulder the burden.
State Of Emergency:
President Biden swiftly rescheduled his visit to Riverside County in order to expedite the approval for federal funds in California, and in doing so, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that a state of emergency has been declared.
The fires have destroyed both landmark sites and Sunset Boulevard along with various areas of Malibu. Witnesses reported flying embers, raging winds, exploding transformers, and the overgrown fires raging both urban and rural areas.
Casualties and Blackouts
Currently, most areas in Los Angeles are without power with estimates ranging around 100,000 homes and businesses. Based on PowerOutages.us, LA Department of Water & Power and Southern California Edison alone have affected 59,800 and 38,500 customers respectively. Kenneth fire is still burning and in ventura county it has left roughly 20,000 SCE customers without power.
Over 10,000 houses and structures have been devastated alongside over 10 casualties. The San Fernando Valley Kenneth fire started expanding in envoy county but managed to contain it partially for using an extensive amount of resources. Simultaneously the contacting economy fire continues growing and has left over 5000 structures destroyed alongside 5300 buildings being damaged in pacific palisades fire.
Continuing Initiatives and Evacuations
California is experiencing a climate change fueled expansion in wildfire season leading to more fires, and widespread issues. Over 180,000 people are being evacuated marking this as the mass evacuation due to the California wildfires.
While dousing out the fire, firefighters saw that there are no thunderstorms anytime soon and the pollution warning flags are quite high thus indicating little to no hope in sight.
Rescue teams alongside local law enforcers are working tirelessly to combat the ever growing wildfires while ensure that homes and people are kept safe. And as all of this is taking place, Los Angeles is experiencing one of the worst wildfire season in recent times.
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