Five dead as wildfire becomes most destructive in LA history
Fire fighters facing water shortages as more than 100,000 people told to evacuate homes
At least five people have been killed and more than 1,000 structures destroyed as fierce wildfires raged in the Los Angeles area, officials have said.
Fire fighters have also faced water shortages with three tanks running dry on Wednesday, as demand “pushed the system to the extreme”.
“We’re fighting a wildfire with urban water systems, and that is really challenging,” Janisse Quiñones, CEO of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said.
Officials are urging residents across the region to conserve water so there is enough for firefighters to use.
California has deployed more than 1,400 firefighting personnel to battle the blazes, Governor Gavin Newsom said, and the LA Fire Department has asked all off-duty firefighters in the city to help.
The four main wildfires are burning in the Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, and Woddley and are estimated to have destroyed over 26,000 acres in total.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the flames had burned through at least 12,000 acres in the Pacific Palisades alone.
More than 100,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes, authorities said.
“We’re facing a historic natural disaster. And I think that can’t be stated strong enough,” Kevin McGowan, director of emergency management for Los Angeles County, told a press conference.
Scientists said the fires, erupting well outside of the traditional wildfire season, mark the latest in weather extremes that are likely to escalate further as global temperatures continue to climb in coming decades.
President Joe Biden joined California Governor Gavin Newsom at a Santa Monica fire station to get a briefing firefighting efforts.
“The impacts of (the fires include) over one thousand structures already destroyed, a hundred-plus thousand people that have been evacuated, lives lost, traditions, lifestyles, places torn asunder,” said Newsom, who declared a state of emergency on Tuesday.
Biden pledged any help he could provide in his final days in office before handing off to President-elect Donald Trump on 20 January.
“We’re doing anything and everything and as long as it takes to contain these fires … to make sure you get back to normal,” Biden said. “It’s going to be a hell of a long way. It’s going to take time.”
According to AccuWeather, preliminary damage and economic loss is estimated to be between $52bn to $57bn.
Across the wider California area, 1.5 million customers were without power, according to tracking site PowerOutage.US.
In Los Angeles County, nearly a million had no power while in Orange County 162,428 customers were without electricity.
