By Jorge Garcia, Rollo Ross and Maria Alejandra Cardona
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Firefighters finally brought two large wildfires on the eastern and western edges of Los Angeles under control on Friday after fierce winds that had fanned the blazes for days finally subsided.
Six simultaneous wildfires have ravaged Los Angeles neighborhoods since Tuesday, killing at least 11 people and damaging or destroying 10,000 structures. Those totals are expected to rise once firefighters are safe enough to conduct house-to-house searches.
With thousands of people suddenly homeless and thick smoke prompting U.S. officials to declare a public health emergency, firefighters reported progress in containing the Palisades Fire on the city’s western edge and Eaton (NYSE: ) Fire in the foothills east of the sprawling metropolis.
After burning out of control for days, despite the efforts of hundreds of firefighters who tackled the blaze from the air and from the ground, the Palisades Fire is 8% contained and the Eaton Fire is 3% contained. Cal Fire listed the containment levels for both fires at 0% through Friday.
Even so, the two large fires combined to consume 35,000 hectares (14,100 acres)—or 54 square miles, 2-1/2 times the area of Manhattan.
About 153,000 people remained under evacuation orders and another 166,800 faced evacuation warnings, with a curfew in effect for all evacuation zones, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
Seven neighboring states, the federal government and Canada rushed to aid California, bolstering aerial teams dropping water and fire retardants on the burning hills and ground crews attacking fire lines with hand tools and hoses.
“Thanks to the increased number of resources assigned, the region is in a much better position than we were earlier this week,” Los Angeles County Commander Anthony Marrone said at a news conference.
Conditions in the Los Angeles area will improve over the weekend, with sustained winds slowing to about 20 mph (32 km/h), with gusts between 35 mph and 50 mph, according to the National Weather Service, a respite from recent 80 mph gusts .
“It’s not as stormy, so that should help the firefighters,” NWS meteorologist Allison Santorelli said, adding that conditions remain critical with low humidity and dry vegetation.
However, forecasters predicted another red flag warning would be issued for Monday.
HOUSES TURNED INTO ASHES
The psychological toll of the traumatized county of nearly 10 million people has yet to be assessed.
Residents of Pacific Palisades who ventured back into their destroyed neighborhoods were shocked to find brick chimneys towering over charred debris and burnt-out vehicles as acrid smoke lingered in the air.
“This was the house they loved,” said Pacific Palisades resident Kelly Foster, 44, as she combed the ashen rubble where her house once stood as smoke billowed from neighboring homes and planes dropped water nearby.
Foster’s 16-year-old daughter, Ada, said she tried to go inside, but “I just got sick. I just couldn’t even… Yeah, it’s hard.”
In Rick McGeagh’s Palisades neighborhood, only six of 60 homes survived, and all that was left standing in his ranch house was a statue of the Virgin Mary.
“All that’s left is ashes and rubble,” said McGeagh, 61, a commercial real estate broker who raised three children in their home with his wife.
On Friday morning, hundreds of people flocked to the parking lot near the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena to collect donated clothes, diapers and bottled water.
Denise Doss, 63, said she was eager to return to her destroyed home in Altadena to see if anything could be salvaged, but officers stopped her for safety reasons.
“At least let’s say goodbye until we rebuild. I’ll let God lead me,” Doss said.
Many Altadena residents said they were concerned that government funding would go to wealthier areas and that insurers could fail those who can’t afford to contest fire claim denials.
In addition to those who lost their homes, tens of thousands were left without power, and millions of people were exposed to poorer air quality as the fires released traces of metal, plastic and other synthetic materials.
BILLIONS OF LOSSES
Private forecaster AccuWeather estimated the damage and economic loss at $135 billion to $150 billion, hinting at a laborious recovery and a spike in homeowners’ insurance costs.
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Friday urged insurers to end non-renewals and pending cancellations that homeowners received before the fires broke out and to extend grace periods for payments.
President Joe Biden declared the fires a major disaster and said the US government would reimburse 100% of recovery costs over the next six months. Speaking with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday, he reiterated his pledge to provide California with firefighting and recovery funds.
“This is not going to be over, even when all the fires are out, it’s just beginning … so we’re going to be here for a long time to help,” Biden said at an Oval Office briefing.
