What to know about the devastation from the Los Angeles-area fires
LOS ANGELES (AP) — More than a week into what could be the costliest wildfires in U.S. history, weary and anxious Los Angeles-area residents were hoping for a favorable shift in the winds expected Thursday and an end to the constant fear that their lives might be further upended.
The blazes that began Jan. 7 have destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 25 people, with nearly 30 missing. The conflagrations fueled by dry Santa Ana winds have scorched at least 63 square miles (163 square kilometers) of land, forcing thousands of people from their homes, stretching firefighting efforts thin, knocking out power to tens of thousands and making the water unsafe to drink in some areas. Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the fires.
Javier Vega said he feels like he's been “sleeping with one eye open" listening to the sounds of helicopters flying over his Sherman Oaks neighborhood of LA into the early-morning hours. Kaylin Johnson said she and her family have spent sleepless nights keeping watch to ward off looters and hose down their house, which is one of the few still standing in their neighborhood near Pasadena.
“Our lives have been put on hold indefinitely,” Johnson said via text message.
Government agencies haven’t provided preliminary damage estimates yet, but AccuWeather, a company that provides data on weather and its impact, put the damage and economic losses at $250 billion to $275 billion.
Although the winds gained strength Wednesday and set the region on edge, there is hope on the horizon, with a shift in winds expected Friday.
Here’s a closer look at what to know about the fires.
Winds gusted up to 35 mph (56 kph) before dawn Wednesday along the coast and valleys, and up to 55 mph (89 kph) in the mountains around LA, said National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Hall.
A red-flag warning, which notes the increased risk of fire danger, was already in effect, but the weather service issued a rare warning about a “particularly dangerous situation” related to severe fire conditions. That warning expired Wednesday afternoon, but dry conditions and locally gusty winds are expected to linger into Thursday — especially in some mountain areas, according to the National Weather Service in Los Angeles.
The Santa Ana winds have turned seasonal wildfires into infernos that have leveled neighborhoods in and around Los Angeles, where there has been no significant rainfall in more than eight months.
Southern California’s winds typically flow onshore from the Pacific, carrying moist air onto land. The Santa Ana winds are warm currents that move in the opposite direction. They usually occur from September through May.
The wind is expected to switch directions on Friday and blow from the coast to the desert, which would bring more moisture off the Pacific, Hall said.
Sewer, water and power infrastructure across the region has been significantly damaged, and several utilities have declared their drinking water unsafe until extensive testing can prove otherwise.
Toxic chemicals from the fires can get into damaged drinking water systems. Experts say filtering or boiling won’t help.
Los Angeles County has more than 200 water service providers, but so far only a handful believe that damage or loss of pressure may have resulted in chemical contamination and have issued do not drink notices.
Utilities are focused on ensuring there’s enough water for firefighting, though some are beginning to test for contaminants. It can take weeks or months of testing before water can be declared safe to drink.
More than 82,000 people from highly populated neighborhoods including Pacific Palisades, Altadena and others remained under evacuation orders Wednesday. Another 90,400 people have been warned that they might have to evacuate.
An overnight curfew remains in effect for evacuated areas, and violators have been arrested, authorities said.
Around 850 patients and residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities and group homes were evacuated after the blazes last week, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Some students have returned to class. In areas where schools were damaged or destroyed, officials are looking for places to relocate students to temporary classrooms.
More than 120,000 customers were without power across California on Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide.
Having started two days after the Golden Globes, the blazes arrived during awards season, which is usually a time of glamor and celebration in the nation’s entertainment capital.
Much of Hollywood's usual film promotion and campaigning festivities have ground to a halt. The Academy Awards is still scheduled for March 2, but the Film Academy delayed its nominations announcement and canceled its annual nominees’ luncheon.
The Grammy Awards, scheduled to be held Feb. 2 in downtown Los Angeles, are going forward with changes to focus on raising money for relief efforts and honoring first responders.
The fires also led to the postponement of NBA games, the Critics Choice Awards and nominations to the Producers Guild Awards.
Los Angeles officials have been criticized for not deploying enough firefighters early in the crisis and for hydrants that ran dry as buildings were engulfed in flames.
Officials chose not to double the number of firefighters on duty last Tuesday as the winds whipped up, and the city had only five of more than 40 engines deployed, The Los Angeles Times reported. The department also didn't call in off-duty firefighters until after the Palisades Fire erupted.
Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley defended her decisions, saying the department did "everything in our capability to surge where we could.”
About 40,000 people have applied for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has already disbursed more than $8 million for immediate needs such as water, food, baby formula and gas. The initial money goes directly into bank accounts, regional FEMA administrator Robert J. Fenton, Jr. said Tuesday, denying misinformation about vouchers.
President Joe Biden said the federal government would pay all of the firefighting and recovery costs in the first 180 days. But that doesn’t mean FEMA will cover 100% of individual families’ costs — the maximum amount FEMA can provide is $43,600, Fenton said.
FEMA offers up to $770 to help cover the evacuees’ immediate needs, but its larger grants generally aren’t available until after insurance companies pay out.
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