Wind forecasts in Los Angeles for this week trigger a red flag warning for wildfires

Dangerously strong winds are expected to continue Monday in Los Angeles, potentially hampering efforts to put out two stubborn wildfires that have leveled entire neighborhoods and killed at least two dozen people.

Santa Ana’s dry winds of up to 80 to 112 kilometers per hour are forecast to continue Monday and last through Wednesday, the National Weather Service said, issuing a “specially hazardous situation” warning.

The biggest concern about those winds, officials said, will begin Tuesday morning.

In anticipation of a return of strong winds, officials warned the entire Los Angeles County population of nearly 10 million to be prepared to evacuate. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone, at a news conference early Monday, urged residents to complete their preparations to evacuate their homes before such an order arrives and not to put phone alerts on silent, as such an order could come at any hour.

At least 24 people died in the fires that broke out on January 7. The flames turned entire neighborhoods into smoldering ruins, leaving behind an apocalyptic landscape. Officials said at least 12,300 structures were damaged or destroyed firefighters from CanadaMexico and seven other US states have gathered in the Los Angeles area to help their California-based counterparts.

Marrone said A Quebec water-dropping craft was damaged by a private drone last week it will be ready for deployment as early as Tuesday morning, pending approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The contact resulted in a three-by-six-foot hole in the side of the plane, known as a “super scooper.”

Significant progress on the Hurst Fire

The return of strong winds threatens the hard-won progress crews have made in containing the fire. Over the weekend, aerial and ground firefighters were able to contain the Palisades Fire as it swept through upscale Brentwood and advanced toward the populous San Fernando Valley to the north.

That blaze on the western side of the metropolis has consumed 96 square kilometers and is 14 percent contained, a figure that represents the percentage of the extent of the fire that firefighters have under control.

The Eaton fire in the foothills east of Los Angeles has scorched 57 square kilometers — almost the size of Manhattan — although containment has risen to 33 percent.

North of the city, the Hurst fire is 95 percent contained, and three other fires that ravaged other parts of the county are now 100 percent contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) reported, although areas inside the containment line may still be up.

Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley urged residents not to be complacent even with the gains made in fighting the fires.

“We are not in the clear yet and we must not let our guard down as we have extreme fire behavior right now,” she said.

‘Like from a movie’

In Altadena on the edge of the Eaton Fire, Tristin Perez said he never left his home, defying police orders to evacuate as the fire raced down the hill.

Instead, Perez insisted on trying to save his property and the homes of his neighbors.

“Your yard is on fire, the palm trees are lit up — it looked like something out of a movie,” Perez told Reuters in an interview in his driveway.

“I did everything I could to stop the line and save my house, help save their houses.”

Marrone said the search for the network in Altadena was “a very painstaking task.”

“Unfortunately, every day we do this, we run over the remains of individual members of the community,” he said.

As of Sunday afternoon, more than 100,000 people in Los Angeles County had been ordered to evacuate — down from the previous high of more than 150,000 — while another 87,000 were under evacuation warnings.

In mandatory evacuation areas, a curfew remains in effect for 12 hours starting at 6 p.m., while county residents are advised to wear N95 masks outdoors as the air quality advisory remains in place until at least next week.