Strong winds return to whip up Los Angeles fires

Strong winds return to whip up Los Angeles fires

Wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles on Sunday confronted the return of dangerous winds, as officials vowed firefighters were ready to combat any new blazes whipped up by furious gusts.

At least 16 people have been confirmed dead from infernos that have ripped through the United States' second-largest city for five days, reducing whole communities to scorched rubble and leaving thousands without homes.

Despite massive firefighting efforts, the largest fire spread toward upscale Brentwood and the densely populated San Fernando Valley, as winds up to 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour hit on Sunday.

Conditions are set to dramatically worsen, with "extreme fire behavior and life threatening conditions" to peak with 70 mile per hour winds in a rare "particularly dangerous situation (PDS)" declared from early Tuesday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld.

These could fan flames and whip up embers from existing burn zones into new areas, firefighters warned.

Los Angeles County Fire Department chief Anthony Marrone said his department had received resources including dozens of new water trucks and firefighters from far afield, and was primed to face the renewed threat.

Questioned whether hydrants could run dry again, as they did during the initial outbreak of fires last week, Mayor Karen Bass replied: "I believe the city is prepared."

Frustration mounted as evacuees waited all day at disaster zone perimeters, hoping to be allowed to visit their homes and try to retrieve vital medication and pets.

- Search for bodies -

But Sheriff Robert Luna said escorts into these areas were being suspended Sunday with the return of high winds, dangerous conditions among the wreckage, and the need to retrieve victims' bodies.

Search-and-rescue operations for fatalities were only just beginning, and "as these searches continue, I unfortunately anticipate that those numbers will increase," he said.

Several more arrests of looters were made, including one burglar who had dressed as a firefighter to steal from homes. 

Nighttime curfews in evacuated zones have been extended, and additional National Guard resources have been requested. 

Prevented from entering an evacuation zone, Altadena resident Bobby Salman, 42, said: "I have to be there to protect my family, my wife, my kids, my mom and I cannot even go and see them."

In the ravaged Pacific Palisades neighborhood, a handwritten sign saying "looters will be shot" was hung on a tree outside a home, next to the US flag.

The Palisades Fire grew overnight to 23,700 acres (9,500 hectares) burnt, and was just 11 percent contained.

Video footage showed "fire tornadoes" -- red-hot spirals that occur when a blaze is so intense it creates its own weather system.

The ferocious fire also left streaks of molten metal flowing from burnt-out cars.

But containment of the 14,000-acre Eaton Fire in Altadena almost doubled, new figures showed, with 27 percent of its perimeter controlled.

The total number of residents under evacuation orders dropped to around 100,000, from a peak of almost 180,000.

The sudden rush of people needing somewhere to live has posed a growing problem for the city, with reports of illegal price gouging from opportunistic landlords.

"I'm back on the market with tens of thousands of people," said a man who gave his name as Brian, whose rent-controlled apartment had burned. "That doesn't bode well."

- 'Worst catastrophes' -

President-elect Donald Trump has accused California officials of incompetence.

"This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country. They just can't put out the fires. What's wrong with them?" Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

Officials including Mayor Bass said they had not personally spoken with the incoming president, but that potential timings for Trump to visit the disaster scenes were being discussed.

President Biden was due to meet key officials later Sunday for a briefing on efforts to suppress the wildfires, the White House said.

A huge investigation by federal and local authorities was underway to determine what caused the blazes.

California Governor Gavin Newsom told Meet the Press he was also launching a "Marshall Plan" as the city looks to rebuild.

"We already have a team looking at reimagining L.A. 2.0," he said.

He also stressed the immediate problem of weather conditions, saying "the challenge is the winds. We've got these winds coming back this evening, Sunday night. We've got peak winds on Monday."

While the ignition of a wildfire can be deliberate, they are often natural, and a vital part of an environment's life cycle.

But urban sprawl puts people more frequently in harm's way, and the changing climate -- supercharged by humanity's unchecked use of fossil fuels -- is exacerbating the conditions that give rise to destructive blazes.

amz/aha

Originally published as Strong winds return to whip up Los Angeles fires