As Los Angeles grapples with five separate fire fronts that have so far not coalesced, the numbers emerging on the scale of the devastation from the wildfires that have been raging since Tuesday (7/1) in its suburbs of the American metropolis are heartbreaking.
Estimates so far are at least 10 dead, 10,000 buildings damaged, 180,000 evacuated and $150 billion in damage, among other things.
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The largest front (81 square kilometers) is the Palisades Fire, northwest of the second largest US city. The flames “swallow” the wealthy district of Pacific Palisades, between Malibu and Santa Monica, burning the mansions of multi-millionaires and celebrities. The second front (55 square kilometers), the Eaton Fire, is sweeping Altantina, a suburb east of Los Angeles. Those two fires remain uncontained, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department (Cal Fire).
Three smaller fronts, the Kenneth Fire (4 sq km), the Hurst Fire (3 sq km) and the Lidia Fire (1.6 sq km), are partially contained, having been contained by 35%, 37% and 75% respectively %. Instead, three small outbreaks, the Sunset Fire, the Woodley Fire and the Olivas Fire, were brought under control by firefighters.
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In total, the fires have already burned nearly 145,000 acres, or 145 square kilometers.
Compared to other wildfires that have hit California in recent years, having in some cases spread over many thousands of square kilometers, the current fronts are relatively less extensive. Their particularity consists in the number of victims they have caused and the magnitude of the destruction, as they are located in residential areas.
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So far, at least 10 people have lost their lives, the Los Angeles County Coroner announced Thursday night (9/1). At least two people died in the Palisades Fire and at least five in the Eaton Fire, according to firefighters.
If one of those fronts had six deaths, then that front would rank among the 20 deadliest in California history, according to California fire marshal data, which separates each fire front.
At least 10,000 homes and buildings have already been reduced to ash, including 5,000 in the Palisades Fire and between 4,000 and 5,000 in the Eaton Fire, according to Los Angeles County fire officials. These two fronts are already the two most destructive in Los Angeles County history.
At the state level, it is the third and fourth deadliest wildfire in California history, behind the Camp Fire, which burned nearly 19,000 buildings north of Sacramento in November 2018, and the Tubbs Fire, which destroyed 5,600 buildings north of San Francisco in October 2017.
About 180,000 people were asked to leave their neighborhoods. Authorities are appealing to citizens to obey evacuation orders as some residents try to stay in their homes to save their property.
The Hollywood neighborhood, at one point threatened by the Sunset Fire, was also evacuated, but the order came Thursday morning, with the fire in its hills now under control.
The neighborhoods affected by the flames are facing another danger: looting. Police have arrested at least 20 people for shoplifting in the Los Angeles area since the first fires broke out on Tuesday.
With luxury homes destroyed, the fires could be the costliest on record. Weather service AccuWeather estimates the amount of damage to be between $135 billion and $150 billion. A bill that could grow further.
With information from APE-MPE
Source: www.zougla.gr
