Six wildfires have been burning in Los Angeles County since Tuesday. At least 11 people have died and 13 others are missing, according to the local sheriff’s office. The toll is expected to rise as firefighters are able to conduct house-to-house searches.
According to the fire department, at least 7,000 buildings have been destroyed by the Eaton fire and another 5,300 by the Palisades fire. Police arrested 22 people for violating curfew during night hours and for looting in the burnt areas.
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The latest information on the size and containment of the major fires is as follows:
Palisades Fire: 22,660 acres burned, 11% contained.
Eaton Fire: 14,117 acres burned, 15% contained.
Kenneth Fire : 1,052 acres burned, 80% contained.
Hurst Fire : 799 acres burned, 76% contained.
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Meanwhile, Mexico sent a team of firefighters to California to help their American counterparts battling the flames in Los Angeles.
“The humanitarian aid team is leaving for Los Angeles, California,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote in a post on Platform X this morning. He accompanied the post with photos of firefighters holding Mexican and California flags and posing in front of two aircraft at the airport.
“We are a country of generosity and solidarity,” he added.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom thanked Mexico for its help. “California is deeply grateful for President Sheinbaum’s support,” he wrote in his own X post.
Seven neighboring states and Canada have already sent aid to California.
The fire service has warned residents that over the next 72 hours the weather may worsen, although the winds will die down. Agency spokesman Todd Hopkins told reporters that while the Palisades fire is 11 percent contained, it has already burned 89,000 acres and spread into the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood.
It also threatens Brentwood, a district of expensive mansions where many of the rich and famous live.
The Eaton fire, east of Los Angeles, is 15 percent contained.
Sheriff Robert Luna said evacuation orders have been issued for 153,000 residents of the Los Angeles area and another 166,000 have been told they may also need to leave their homes.
Luna said his agency has mobilized 40 rescuers who will work with other agencies, even using dogs specially trained to locate bodies, to search for any victims and help reunite separated families.
Houses were reduced to ashes
Residents of Pacific Palisades who ventured back into their burned-out neighborhoods were shocked to find only debris, wrecked cars and thick smoke.
“We loved this house,” said Kelly Foster, 44, digging into the rubble of the building where she lived until her early weeks.
Her 16-year-old daughter Eida said she tried to get in but “felt nauseous, she just couldn’t” because “it’s hard”.
In Rick McGee’s neighborhood, only six of 60 homes were saved. In his, the only thing still standing is a statue of the Virgin Mary. “Everything else was reduced to ashes,” said the 61-year-old who raised three children in that house.
On Friday morning, hundreds of people gathered in a Pasadena parking lot to pick up clothes, baby diapers and bottled water. Denise Doss, 63, said she was eager to return to her damaged home in Altadena to see if anything could be salvaged, but she was not yet allowed to for safety reasons.
“At least to say goodbye until we can rebuild it. I will let God lead me,” said the woman.
Source: www.zougla.gr
