Red flag fire warnings as strong winds recreate ‘critical’ conditions for LA

Winds are expected to intensify in Los Angeles and “critical fire weather conditions will continue,” forecasters say, as firefighters battle to contain the deadly blazes that have killed at least 25 people and churned through more than 40,000 acres (16,000 hectares).

On Wednesday officials attributed one more death to the Eaton Fire.

The Eaton Fire has killed 17 people, and the Palisades Fire has killed eight.

Meanwhile, resurgent winds could cause once again cause “explosive fire growth”, according to the National Weather Service, and authorities have issued “particularly dangerous situation” red flag warnings for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties until Wednesday.

The gusty Santa Ana winds are expected to subside Thursday into the weekend.

Firefighters are holding the line against the two biggest wildfires that have ravaged parts of Los Angeles for the past week, even as desert winds and a parched landscape presented extremely hazardous conditions.

Some 8500 firefighters from at least seven states and two foreign countries prevented the fires from growing for a second day on Tuesday as they gained slightly more control of the perimeter of the blazes.

A fleet of aircraft dropped water and retardant into the rugged hills while ground crews with hand tools and hoses have worked around the clock since the fires broke out on January 7, with the aircraft occasionally grounded by high winds.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said 11 new fires broke out in Southern California overnight and were quickly extinguished because firefighters and equipment were positioned ahead of time.

But three other fires were still burning, including one each in neighbouring Ventura and Riverside counties that started on Monday and Tuesday, Cal Fire said.

The Palisades Fire on the west edge of town held steady at 95sq km burned, and containment increased to 17 per cent — a measurement of how much of the perimeter was under control.

The Eaton Fire in the foothills east of the city stood at 60sq km with containment up to 35 per cent.

Southern California has lacked any appreciable rain since April, turning brush into tinder as Santa Ana winds originating from the deserts whipped over hilltops and rushed through canyons, sending embers ahead of the fires.

Fire concerns will continue until the area gets significant rainfall, with each dry day further exacerbating the potential for peril.

Firefighters are attempting to prevent the flames from reaching the city’s Brentwood neighbourhood, home to the Getty Center museum, and Interstate 405.

The cause of the wildfires — forecast to be the costliest blaze in US history — is unknown.

Entire neighbourhoods have been levelled, leaving smouldering ash and rubble. In many homes, only a chimney is left standing.

A few thousand more people were allowed back home but 88,000 remained under evacuation orders with another 84,000 under evacuation warning - large-scale displacements unprecedented in the metropolitan area’s history.

Urban search and rescue teams worked from an Altadena grocery store parking lot, tracking progress on whiteboards and handing out assignments from inside a trailer.

“We’re doing a systematic search. The winds really don’t have a whole lot of effect on our search and rescue operations,” said Jorge Villanueva, a regional task force leader with the California Office of Emergency Services.

His team of 50 firefighters and sheriff’s deputies conducted house-by-house searches, looking for any lingering fires and hazards such as lithium-ion batteries connected to solar panels.

Health officials in Los Angeles on Tuesday warned of worsened air quality due to spread of ash and dust.

Communities downwind from recent burn scars are most likely to be impacted, Los Angeles County’s public health department said in a statement.

The agency said those looking to protect themselves should consider staying inside and keeping all entry points in homes closed, wearing an N95 or P100 face mask outside, wearing goggles or other forms of eye protection, monitoring air quality updates and having emergency plans in place if conditions worsen.

Looking forward, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Tuesday said she wants to ensure the city can move quickly to rebuild and recover after the devastating wildfires.

“We’re going to make it through these next few days, but we want to begin to think about how we rebuild the massive destruction that I saw from the air,” she said, referencing an aerial tour of the damage she took with the chief of the fire department.

“We don’t want people burdened by red tape and bureaucracy.”

Ms Bass signed an executive order Monday aimed at rebuilding the city after wildfires have razed tens of thousands of hectares and devastated neighbourhoods around the region.

The executive order establishes a task force to develop a plan for swift debris removal.

It waives review processes to speed up the rebuilding of homes, which cannot be restored to more than 110 per cent of the structure’s original size.

The order also expedites approvals to make 1400 units of housing available across Los Angeles and establishes a framework to secure additional regulatory relief and resources from the state and federal level.

In Pasadena, California, dozens of volunteers traversed the area Tuesday to try to clean up the community after debris from the nearby Eaton Fire littered the ground.

The volunteers, many of whom are immigrants and service workers who have been without work since the fires broke out, loaded plastic bins, shovels and rakes into about 15 trucks starting around 9 am.

Split into six “fire brigades,” the group picked up broken branches and ash in eight-block chunks near the evacuation zone.

“Only the people save the people,” said Manuel Vicente, director of Radio Jornalera, a Spanish-language radio station aimed at day labourers, echoing a phrase on signs hanging from each truck.

In Washington, a battle over emergency aid broke out between Republicans and Democrats over what is already the costliest wildfire in terms of insured losses.

Private forecaster AccuWeather estimates total damage and economic loss up to $US275 billion ($A445 billion), which would make it the costliest natural disaster in US history, surpassing Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Democrats in Congress opposed the suggestion by House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, that conditions be placed on aid. Johnson also said any wildfire disaster assistance funding should be “paid for,” meaning the cost should be covered to prevent adding to the budget deficit, possibly by cutting other programs.

That is a departure from many previous natural disasters, and Democratic Representative Ted Lieu of California called Johnson’s position “outrageous.”

“We should not be leveraging the pain and suffering of our fellow Americans to try to force new policy changes,” Lieu said.

PATH OF DESTRUCTION

Here’s what to know about the five active fires in the Los Angeles area as of mid-Tuesday. Spread and containment figures are from Cal Fire.

The death toll has reached 25, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office.

Palisades Fire (17 per cent contained):

The blaze has burned through more than 23,700 acres (9591 hectares) in and around Pacific Palisades and killed at least eight people.

Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said the fire has destroyed more than 5300 structures since it began last week.

Firefighters are attempting to prevent the fire from reaching the Brentwood neighbourhood, home to the Getty Center museum, and Interstate 405.

Eaton Fire (35 per cent contained)

On the city’s east side, near Pasadena, the fire has killed at least 17 people — making it one of the deadliest fires in California’s history — and burned through 14,117 acres (5712 hectares).

Hurst Fire (97 per cent contained)

In the north, near San Fernando, the fire has covered 799 acres (323 hectares).

Auto Fire (25 per cent contained)

A new brush fire broke out at a river bottom in Ventura County on Monday evening. Though the blaze grew to 56 acres (22 hectares), Ventura County firefighters said they were able to halt the fire’s forward progress.

By Tuesday afternoon, it was 25 per cent contained, according to Cal Fire.

Scout Fire (0 per cent containment):

The new blaze was first reported shortly after 1pm on Tuesday, prompting evacuations. It ignited in Riverside County amid windy conditions and has burned two acres.

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