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Los Angeles was braced for near “hurricane force” winds on Monday that weather forecasters said could fan the devastating wildfires that have swept across southern California over the past week.
As firefighters struggled to contain the deadly blazes that continued to rage in the suburbs of the US’s second-largest city, the National Weather Service issued a “red flag alert” warning amid deteriorating conditions.
Winds of up to 75 miles an hour were expected to hit the region from Monday night until Wednesday morning, according to the NWS, combining with extremely dry conditions to create “critical fire weather”.
“The National Weather Service is predicting close to hurricane-force level winds, and so we’re making urgent preparations,” LA mayor Karen Bass said on Monday. “My top priority, and the priority of everyone else, is to do everything we can to protect lives as these winds approach.”
Authorities have since last Tuesday battled blazes that have burnt more than 40,000 acres of land. California governor Gavin Newsom warned the fires could become the costliest disaster in US history as he clashed with president-elect Donald Trump over the state’s response.
The cause of the fires has not yet been determined, but lawsuits are expected to mount in the weeks ahead. Shares in utility group Edison International fell 11.9 per cent on Monday after Bloomberg reported that it was being sued in a case alleging equipment owned by its subsidiary Southern California Edison was responsible for igniting one of the blazes. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The largest of the outbreaks, the Pacific Palisades fire, was just 14 per cent contained by Monday morning local time, prompting fears that strong gusts in the coming days would reverse progress in combating the blazes.
“Do not do anything that could spark a fire,” the NWS warned on Monday as it cautioned powerful winds could create “explosive fire growth”.
The death toll had reached 24 by Monday, officials said, and was expected to climb as authorities combed through the wreckage in search of missing people.
Bass said firefighters from LA and across the state were in “in a proactive and strategic posture to save lives” in badly damaged areas. About 5,000 firefighters were positioned in the Palisades area and another 3,000 at the Eaton fire near Altadena.
The disaster has spilled over into the political arena, with Trump on Sunday attacking the state’s authorities for failing to halt the destruction. “The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out,” he posted on his Truth Social network.
The incoming Republican president has accused California’s governor, a Democrat, of depleting water reserves to protect an endangered species of fish, and of refusing to sign a “water restoration declaration”. Newsom’s office said no such declaration exists.
“That mis- and disinformation I don’t think advantages or aids any of us,” Newsom told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, noting he had invited the president-elect to visit affected areas but had yet to receive a response. “Responding to Donald Trump’s insults, we would spend another month.”
Meanwhile, city officials warned against price gougers who have increased prices for rental properties as thousands of people fled their homes.
LAist, a local news site, found a Zillow listing for a furnished home in Bel Air going for $29,500 a month — 86 per cent higher than in September.
Cartography by Steven Bernard