As the winds pick up, LA firefighters desperately try to stop the Palisades monster inferno
Firefighters are mounting an all-out attack to prevent the largest of the deadly wildfires threatening Los Angeles from spreading into one of the city’s most exclusive neighborhoods.
Air crews bombarded the burning hills with water and fire retardant to contain the Palisades Fire, which has spread to an additional 1,000 acres and is now threatening Brentwood.
Officials were on the defensive amid growing anger over hydrants running dry as firefighters battled to contain the fast-moving blaze.
Winds are expected to pick up again overnight, further fanning the flames that have already killed at least 11 people.
“LA County has had another night of unimaginable terror and heartbreak,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said Saturday.
Firefighters have made modest progress against the worst of the inferno, the Palisades Fire, which has burned nearly 23,000 acres and is 11% contained.
But the fire spread into the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood, prompting evacuation orders for parts of Brentwood, an opulent enclave where Arnold Schwarzenegger, Disney CEO Bob Iger and NBA star LeBron James have homes.
Also in the evacuation zone is the Getty Center, a hilltop museum that houses more than 125,000 works of art, including masterpieces by Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Rubens, Monet and Degas. The building is undamaged for now.
The second largest fire, the Eaton fire, has destroyed more than 14,000 hectares and is 15% contained. Firefighters have largely contained two smaller fires, the Kenneth and Hurst fires.
But the National Weather Service warned that the strong Santa Ana winds that initially fueled the fires will pick up again Saturday and Sunday.
Seven neighboring states, the federal government, and Canada and Mexico rushed resources to California.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. The two largest together flattened an area more than twice the size of Manhattan.
About 153,000 residents are under mandatory evacuation orders, and another 166,000 have been warned that they may also flee.
The political repercussions have begun.
On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat with rumored White House preferences, ordered an investigation into why a key reservoir was down and some hydrants ran dry.
Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley complained about the lack of water.
“When the firefighter gets to the hydrant, we expect there will be water,” she said.
Chief Crowley also attacked city leadership for cutting her department’s budget and eliminating mechanic jobs, which has left more than 100 fire extinguishers out of service.
On Saturday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass – who was criticized for being in Ghana for the inauguration of the African country’s president when the fires broke out in LA on Tuesday – hinted at her tensions with Chief Crowley.
“To be clear,” Bass said at a press conference, “the fire chief and I are focused on fighting these fires and saving lives, and any differences we may have will be resolved privately.”
More than 70,000 people have signed a petition on change.org demanding the immediate resignation of the mayor.
As fear of looting grows, a sunset-sunrise curfew is being strictly enforced in the evacuated areas, the official said.
Newsom announced Saturday that he would double the number of National Guardsmen on the ground to “keep communities safe.”
About two dozen arrests were made, including burglaries, robberies and curfew violations.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said cadaver dogs are helping 40 search and rescue teams search the flattened neighborhoods.
The death toll is expected to rise as house-to-house searches are carried out.
The fires were so intense that the alloy wheels on the cars melted into puddles of liquid metal.
Rick McGeagh, a real estate agent, told the Reuters news agency that in his Pacific Palisades neighborhood, only six of 60 homes survived.
All that was left standing in his house was a statue of the Virgin Mary.
All that remains is ash and rubble, said the 61-year-old father of three.
