California [US], January 12: The Palisades Fire, already one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles, has prompted new evacuation orders in one of the city's major population centres.
After burning the iconic Pacific Palisades neighborhood to the ground and attacking beachside communities, the blaze set its sights on the San Fernando Valley, and also spread east toward Bel-Air and UCLA.
Images from Sky5 showed fire crews attempting to prevent the northern expansion of the wildfire into the Valley, which was getting "uncomfortably close" to Encino and Tarzana, according to KTLA's Gil Leyvas. The fire was approaching the area where the 101 and 405 freeways meet.
Officials closed several exits along the 405 Freeway.
Tens of thousands of people remain under evacuation orders or warnings. The evacuation order extended throughout the Pacific Palisades to the Pacific Ocean and included areas of Santa Monica, Malibu, and Topanga. Residents and businesses in Calabasas and parts of Tarzana and Encino remained under an evacuation warning on Saturday morning.
The fire also shifted east toward Westwood and the UCLA campus. The UCLA Police Department on Friday night told the university's community to be prepared in case the evacuation warnings adjacent to campus turn into evacuation orders. As of the most recent update at 8am on Saturday, the Palisades Fire had charred 22,661 acres and was 11% contained. It had claimed the lives of at least 10 people.
More than 3,700 firefighting personnel were assigned to the blaze and 24 helicopters and 463 engines were battling the flames. The fire erupted on Tuesday morning and quickly turned aggressive due to hurricane-level Santa Ana winds. Within minutes, residential neighbourhoods in the Pacific Palisades were levelled and the iconic downtown area was wiped out.
More than 5,000 structures are estimated to be destroyed, and damage is believed to be in the tens of billions of dollars. Dry humidity and more high winds have led Cal Fire to believe that critical fire weather conditions are again possible on Saturday.
Source: Qatar Tribune
