Palisades Fire now most destructive in LA history; death toll expected to rise, sheriff says
LOS ANGELES — At least five people are dead and many more injured as several fires broke out across Southern California amid historically dry and windy conditions.
However, the death toll is expected to rise, officials said on Thursday.
“At one point, we’ll be able to do a more thorough search of these impacted areas, some of them look like a bomb was dropped in them, where we will be able to bring in canines and other things to help us,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, who added he is not able to confidently give an update on additional fatalities at this time. “Unfortunately, based on the preliminary information I’ve seen, at least in the two large fires that we’re dealing with on each side of the county, unfortunately, I think the death toll will rise.”
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 fire in Pacific Palisades is now the most destructive in Los Angeles history, leveling entire blocks and reducing buildings to rubble.
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.”
All evacuation orders in the Hollywood Hills area have been lifted, fire officials said Thursday morning.
Nearly 2,000 homes and buildings have been destroyed and nearly 400,000 homes and businesses have lost power.
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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. Maxar satellite before and after images capture the destruction from the blazes.