By Yan Zhuang, Corina Knoll, Soumya Karlamangla, and Judson Jones
Here’s the latest on the fires.
At least two people were killed and many suffered serious injuries as out-of-control wildfires raged across Southern California on Wednesday. Four blazes in the Los Angeles area destroyed homes and businesses, covered cities and highways in smoke and whipped up storms of embers that turned the skies red.
Officials have tallied devastating losses but warned that the worst was still to come, with gusty conditions expected to fuel the blazes and hinder firefighting efforts. Many homes have been destroyed along the scenic Pacific Coast, and tens of thousands of residents were under mandatory evacuation orders, with evacuation zones growing by the hour.
Hundreds of structures will most likely be lost, said Traci Park, the Los Angeles city councilwoman whose district includes Pacific Palisades, the site of the biggest fire. “This is going to be devastating, a devastating loss, for all of Los Angeles,” she said.
That blaze, named the Palisades fire, began on Tuesday morning in the affluent neighborhood west of downtown Los Angeles, and had exploded to nearly 3,000 acres by night, burning with a volatility that astonished fire officials. Residents rushing to escape faced heavy traffic and dead-end roads. Evacuation orders and warnings have been issued from Malibu to parts of Santa Monica. One firefighter sustained a serious head injury while battling the blaze, the authorities said, and two others suffered minor injuries.
Another fire east of Los Angeles, near Pasadena in Eaton Canyon, started on Tuesday evening and was growing rapidly, consuming more than 2,200 acres by Wednesday morning, officials said. That blaze, named the Eaton fire, engulfed homes and forced more than 100 people to evacuate from a nursing home, some in wheelchairs and on gurneys, said Lisa Derderian, a spokeswoman for the city of Pasadena.
The blazes were threatening to stretch firefighting resources. Multiple agencies have responded with strike teams, but the wind forced officials to ground aircraft, making the fires particularly difficult to fight.
Fierce winds grew stronger through the night. A gust of 99 miles per hour was recorded at 10:20 p.m. in the San Gabriel Mountains, north of Pasadena. There will likely be a notable drop in wind speed by mid- to late morning. However, since the winds are so strong, even as they weaken, they will continue to be a hazard into the evening hours, with extreme wildfire weather conditions likely into the afternoon.
Here’s what else to know:
More fires: A third blaze known as the Hurst fire in Sylmar, in the San Fernando Valley, started and grew to 500 acres on Tuesday night, forcing officials to issue evacuation orders for several streets. Officials are also responding to smaller fires including in Santa Paula, Fontana and the Sun Valley. Read more about the three major fires.
Early reports of damage: Multiple structures have been damaged, said Kristin M. Crowley, the Los Angeles Fire Department chief. They include some local landmarks along the Pacific Coast Highway and other areas.
Warnings for days: The immediate causes of the fires were not clear yet, but officials had been cautioning for days that parched vegetation and strong Santa Ana winds could help wildfires spark and spread quickly.
Power concerns: About 280,000 customers across Southern California were without power early Wednesday, many because of powerful winds or because utility providers had turned off their electricity to prevent fires.
School closures: At least 18 school districts across Los Angeles County have reported closures for Wednesday because of the fires and weather conditions.
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