‘Three football fields a minute’: Wildfire tears through affluent suburbs of north Los Angeles
An out of control wildfire burning three football fields of land a minute is currently tearing through the north coast of Los Angeles.
The north coast of Los Angeles is engulfed in flames, as an out of control wildfire fanned by a “life-threatening” windstorm is burning through three football fields of land every minute.
The blaze, which started early on Tuesday morning, Los Angeles time, has burned through at least 1200 acres, or almost five square kilometres with an evacuation order in place for large parts of the Pacific Palisades area.
Footage emerging of the blaze shows homes and cars set alight while around 30 vehicles were left abandoned on the famous Sunset Boulevard as smoke and embers spread over metropolitan Los Angeles.
In a press conference given at 10:30am AEDT, LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said the fire was initially reported as 10 acres, with winds sitting at around 40km/h.
Around 30,000 people are under evacuation orders with more than 10,000 houses under threat.
The blaze is expected to intensify with the National Weather Service issuing a critical fire risk alert for large parts of the region. Winds are expected above 95km/h with gusts of up to 160km/h. The fire threat is expected to remain through to Friday.
LA Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell confirmed “the fire will get worse throughout the night”.
There are currently more than 250 firefighters tackling the blaze including 46 engines, three trucks, five helicopters and six paramedic ambulances. Chief McDonnell has urged the community to move their cars to allow rescue crews to access the fire.
Parts of southern California have seen less than a quarter inch of rain in the last eight months which has left vegetation dry, withered and incredibly susceptible to fire. Combined with the unbelievably strong Santa Ana winds, the conditions have allowed the blaze to spread rapidly.
“The fire is being fuelled by a combination of strong winds and surrounding topography, which is making it extremely challenging for our personnel that are assigned to this incident,” Chief Crowley said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom urged residents to listen to evacuation orders noting that many structures had already been destroyed with the blaze continuing to grow. This follows an announcement on Monday where he committed to pre-emptively mobilise state resources to tackle the potential blaze.
“We are no strangers to wintertime wildfire threats, so I ask all Californians to pay attention to local authorities and be prepared to evacuate if told to go,” Mr Newsom.
Officials were questioned this morning about the gridlock that emerged as residents attempting to flee through the few available thoroughfares contented with firefighters and first responders trying to rush to the scene of the fire.
Fire Chief Crowley defended the operation saying residents should have made preparations to leave before the evacuation order went out.
Los Angeles City councilwoman Traci Park instructed affected residents to seek refuge at a recreation centre in the nearby suburb of Westwood.
“It may be some time until people are allowed to return to their homes and residences,” she said.
“Please bear with us through this period as our public safety partners work hard to protect lives and property and ensure that this area is safe before people return.”
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