According to on-site summaries, only 11 percent of the fire was contained in the Pacific Palisades residential area, while only 15 percent of the flames were contained near the city of Altadena, in Eaton. On Saturday, the firefighters are also racing against time to contain the fire as much as possible, even before the wind that fuels the flames increases again.
On Friday and in the first half of Saturday, the temporarily decreasing wind gusts made it possible to use aerial spraying with water and other extinguishing agents.
David Acuna, Los Angeles County Fire Chief called the wind picking up overnight as a very serious concern. Firefighters are trying to protect the building of the world-famous J. Paul Getty Museum and the grounds of the University of California from the flames.
Authorities ordered another mandatory evacuation in the Pacific Palisades area Friday night. On Saturday, a total of 100,000 people’s residences were affected by the mandatory measure, and a warning was in effect for 160,000 people.
Los Angeles County police said Saturday that 22 people are in custody on charges of burglary and robbery. Sheriff Robert Luna said a nighttime curfew will again be in effect in the area affected by the eviction on Saturday, meaning anyone found on the street by patrolmen will be arrested.
The bushfire, which started on Tuesday and spread to inhabited areas, lasted until Saturday
It scorched 38,000 hectares and destroyed around 12,300 buildings, mostly residential buildings. The bodies of 11 people were found in the area affected by the fire.
On Saturday, the state of Texas also sent firefighters and ambulances to the disaster-stricken area. Several states have done this before, and on Friday firefighters from Mexico also arrived in Los Angeles. Several hundred members of the National Guard are also involved in the work, primarily in law enforcement tasks, the military police also got involved, and a total of about 10,000 firefighters are on duty.
According to preliminary estimates, one of the worst natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles caused a total of 110-150 billion dollars in damage. The Federal Tax Office (Internal Revenue Service) announced that it will help those affected by the fire with a tax discount.
A fire spreading in the Palisades area near Malibu threatens to consume the homes of more celebrities. According to Saturday’s news, the house of actor-director Arnold Schwarzenegger, former governor of California, is also in the threatened area. In the previous days, among others, the property of Mel Gibson, Anthony Hopkins, Jeff Bridges, Billy Crystal and Paris Hilton was affected by the fire.
Cover photo credit: Apu Gomes/Getty Images
Source: www.portfolio.hu
