The Fort Worth Press - Whole streets burn as fires rage around Los Angeles

USD -
AED 3.672989
AFN 71.498384
ALL 91.375029
AMD 391.160458
ANG 1.790208
AOA 917.000052
ARS 1072.800695
AUD 1.589195
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.705782
BAM 1.811219
BBD 2.018475
BDT 121.482648
BGN 1.802698
BHD 0.376971
BIF 2926
BMD 1
BND 1.343366
BOB 6.907601
BRL 5.692802
BSD 3.495
BTN 85.449031
BWP 13.836501
BYN 3.271549
BYR 19600
BZD 2.008011
CAD 1.432565
CDF 2870.999759
CHF 0.88285
CLF 0.024908
CLP 955.839761
CNY 7.268101
CNH 7.280205
COP 4153.75
CRC 502.211006
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 102.050366
CZK 22.988495
DJF 177.720185
DKK 6.87673
DOP 63.324964
DZD 133.712147
EGP 50.568902
ERN 15
ETB 129.849787
EUR 0.921645
FJD 2.322499
FKP 0.773835
GBP 0.770995
GEL 2.760391
GGP 0.773835
GHS 15.454482
GIP 0.773835
GMD 72.127796
GNF 8649.682527
GTQ 7.713223
GYD 209.94982
HKD 7.78277
HNL 25.564942
HRK 6.941603
HTG 130.445587
HUF 372.296894
IDR 16718.576893
ILS 3.701965
IMP 0.773835
INR 85.554357
IQD 1308.299078
IRR 42104.284763
ISK 133.051944
JEP 0.773835
JMD 156.330273
JOD 0.70906
JPY 150.114501
KES 129.247253
KGS 86.535048
KHR 3993.237165
KMF 455.492709
KPW 900.019816
KRW 1471.238741
KWD 0.308329
KYD 0.831751
KZT 503.440561
LAK 21634.158301
LBP 89322.563868
LKR 294.670386
LRD 199.943579
LSL 18.386538
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.811016
MAD 9.629604
MDL 17.958258
MGA 4670.178386
MKD 56.942607
MMK 2099.510008
MNT 3481.383862
MOP 8.013924
MRU 39.697342
MUR 45.624205
MVR 15.4421
MWK 1731.877317
MXN 20.45005
MYR 4.436466
MZN 63.884802
NAD 18.386538
NGN 1536.893581
NIO 36.760755
NOK 10.40773
NPR 136.951137
NZD 1.744181
OMR 0.384995
PAB 1
PEN 3.668903
PGK 4.090104
PHP 57.238189
PKR 279.631053
PLN 3.872133
PYG 7946.798552
QAR 3.639572
RON 4.608694
RSD 108.488768
RUB 84.529386
RWF 1418.368583
SAR 3.74987
SBD 8.500308
SCR 14.484863
SDG 600.465319
SEK 9.913065
SGD 1.343437
SHP 0.785843
SLE 22.830348
SLL 20969.501083
SOS 570.385514
SRD 36.855947
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.749972
SYP 13002.468687
SZL 18.386538
THB 34.186323
TJS 10.900219
TMT 3.497766
TND 3.103211
TOP 2.407834
TRY 37.92291
TTD 6.767183
TWD 33.248604
TZS 2646.107198
UAH 41.255737
UGX 3649.561079
UYU 42.148301
UZS 12911.275778
VES 69.589677
VND 25640.752098
VUV 123.375609
WST 2.83707
XAF 607.323613
XAG 0.029609
XAU 0.00032
XCD 2.707403
XDR 0.752731
XOF 607.323613
XPF 110.484353
YER 246.006073
ZAR 18.840565
ZMK 9001.19551
ZMW 28.143801
ZWL 321.999592
  • RYCEF

    -0.1800

    9.87

    -1.82%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    68

    0%

  • CMSC

    0.0550

    22.495

    +0.24%

  • NGG

    -0.1380

    65.642

    -0.21%

  • RIO

    -0.5500

    59.68

    -0.92%

  • AZN

    -0.4900

    72.11

    -0.68%

  • BTI

    -0.9550

    40.145

    -2.38%

  • GSK

    -0.3100

    37.56

    -0.83%

  • RELX

    0.0700

    50.74

    +0.14%

  • VOD

    -0.1450

    9.125

    -1.59%

  • CMSD

    -0.0050

    22.815

    -0.02%

  • SCS

    0.0000

    11.32

    0%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13

    +0.15%

  • BP

    -0.0850

    33.725

    -0.25%

  • BCE

    -0.9650

    21.815

    -4.42%

  • BCC

    2.2250

    101.135

    +2.2%

Whole streets burn as fires rage around Los Angeles
Whole streets burn as fires rage around Los Angeles / Photo: © AFP

Whole streets burn as fires rage around Los Angeles

Rampaging wildfires around Los Angeles have killed at least two people, officials said Wednesday as terrifying blazes leveled whole streets, torching cars and houses in minutes.

Text size:

More than 1,000 buildings have burned in multiple wildfires that have erupted around America's second biggest city, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes.

Hurricane-force winds whipped up fireballs that leapt from house to house in the upmarket Pacific Palisades area, incinerating a swathe of California's most desirable real estate favored by Hollywood celebrities.

"We have no percentage of containment. We have an estimated 1,000 structures destroyed... and a high number of significant injuries to residents who did not evacuate," Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone told reporters of a blaze that has consumed 11,000 acres (4,500 hectares).

A second major fire was burning around Altadena, north of the city, where footage showed flames consumed suburban streets in a fire that has already burnt through 10,000 acres.

"We have over 500 personnel assigned, and unfortunately, we have two reported fatalities to civilians, unknown cause at this time. And we do have a number of significant injuries. We have over 100 structures destroyed," Marrone said.

- Hydrants run dry -

Two other blazes in the area were also stretching resources.

Vicious gusts pushed the flames, whipping red-hot embers hundreds of meters (yards), sparking new spot fires faster than firefighters could quell them.

A pall of dark smoke hung over Los Angeles, like an enormous storm cloud.

Downed trees and broken branches were hampering movement, with emergency chiefs urging residents to stay off the roads to ease the strain on the city's creaking infrastructure.

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power chief executive Janisse Quinones pleaded with people to save water, after hydrants in Pacific Palisades ran dry overnight.

She said three million-gallon tanks used to supply the neighborhood's more than 20,000 residents were exhausted by 3:00 am Wednesday.

"I need our customers to really conserve water... because the fire department needs the water to fight the fires," Quinones said.

"We're fighting a wildfire with urban water systems, and that is really challenging."

Incoming president Donald Trump took to his social media platform on Wednesday to claim -- wrongly -- that the lack of water was the result of the state's environmental policies.

Echoing fantastical claims he made in his first White House term, Trump said rainwater was being diverted "to protect an essentially worthless fish."

In fact, much of Los Angeles' water comes from the Colorado River, and farming -- rather than residential use or firefighting -- takes the lion's share of all water that flows into Southern California.

- 'Panic mode' -

The first wildfire erupted on Tuesday morning and spread quickly, taking many residents by surprise.

It was still spreading on Wednesday, forcing more people from their homes.

Martin Sansing, 54, told AFP he had lived in Santa Monica canyon for 20 years and had never seen anything like this.

"We're in a pretty urban area. We're not like, on a hill or anything like that. I never imagined we would be affected," he said.

"I grew up in Los Angeles, and Malibu used to burn every 10 or 15 years, but not this area."

Sarahlee Stevens-Shippen, 69, spent the night at a friend's house and returned to the canyon early morning to grab a few supplies.

"When I saw the glow of the fire coming over the mountain yesterday about eight o'clock, I took off. It had already jumped the coast highway nearby and some palm trees were catching on fire," she said.

"You got the ashes to worry about in your lungs. You got your life to worry about with these 80 to 100 mile an hour gusts. We've just been in panic mode."

Trees and vegetation around the Getty Villa were burned, but the structure and collections -- including Greek and Roman antiquities -- were spared, the museum said.

The fire came as the area was being hit by seasonal Santa Ana winds that forecasters said could develop into the worst windstorm in a decade, with gusts of up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) an hour.

Wildfires are part of life in the US West and play a vital role in nature.

But scientists say human-caused climate change is altering weather patterns.

Southern California had two decades of drought that were followed by two exceptionally wet years, which sparked furious vegetative growth -- leaving the region packed with fuel and primed to burn.

T.Gilbert--TFWP