LOS ANGELES — At least five people are dead and many more injured as several fire broke out across Southern California amid historically dry and windy conditions.
More than 7,500 firefighters have been deployed to battle at least six major wildfires dotted around the Los Angeles area, along with several smaller blazes.
The wildfire emergency in southern California shows no signs of slowing as crews battled new wildfires overnight on Wednesday, including one in the Hollywood Hills, which is not far from landmarks like the Dolby Theater and “Hollywood Walk Of Fame.”
Nearly 2,000 homes and buildings have been destroyed and nearly 400,000 homes and businesses have lost power.
Another round of Santa Ana winds is forecast to sweep into Los Angeles on Thursday night into Friday morning, putting most of the region under a critical fire risk, as emergency responders battle to contain five quickly spreading wildfires.
Red flag and high wind warnings have been issued through Friday afternoon for wind gusts 40 to 60 mph, with 70 mph possible in the mountains.
Relative humidity could drop to as low as 5% for Southern California.
Because of the dry and windy conditions anticipated, a critical fire risk has been issued for much of the area for the next 24 hours.
Across Los Angeles, it’s too early to know the true scale of the damage as video and photos show unimaginable scenes.
More than 130,000 people were under evacuation orders across Southern California.
A map shows the multiple wildfires raging across Los Angeles County, which are being fueled by dry conditions and a rare wind event, with gusts up to 100 miles per hour.
The fire in Pacific Palisades is now the most destructive in Los Angeles history, leveling entire blocks and reducing grocery stores and banks to rubble.
The flames tore through highly populated and affluent neighborhoods, where mansions were reduced to flaming embers. The “Eaton Fire” exploded to more than 10,000 acres in just 24 hours, with the flames marching down the mountains into densely packed communities, killing at least five people.
Source: ABC News