‘Dangerous, strong’ winds threaten to spread wildfires in Los Angeles: officials

US officials warned on Sunday that “dangerous and strong” winds would push more deadly wildfires into residential areas of Los Angeles, as firefighters struggled to make headway against the flames.

At least 16 people have been confirmed dead as a result of the fires that have devastated the city, reducing entire neighborhoods to ashes and leaving thousands of people homeless.

Despite enormous efforts, including precision airborne raids, the Palisades Fire continued to grow, spreading east toward the priceless collections of the Getty Center art museum and north into the densely populated San Francisco Valley. Fernando.

“The winds are becoming potentially dangerous and strong again,” Deanne Criswell, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), told CNN.

“The most important thing people need to know is that this is still dangerous.”

A brief lull in the wind gave way to gusts that forecasters warned could reach up to 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour) early Sunday and fuel the flames for days to come.

Winds were expected to weaken later Sunday before increasing again overnight, the National Weather Service said.

No place to live

The Palisades Fire was 11 percent contained but had grown to 23,600 acres (9,500 hectares), while the Eaton Fire was at 14,000 acres and 15 percent contained.

Official figures show more than 12,000 structures burned, although Cal Fire’s Todd Hopkins said not all were homes and the number included outbuildings, trailers and sheds.

In some areas, the fierce fire left streaks of molten metal gushing from burned cars.

The sudden rush of evacuees needing a place to live posed a growing problem for the city.

“I’m back on the market with tens of thousands of people,” said a man who identified himself as Brian, whose rent-controlled apartment burned down. “That doesn’t bode well.”

With incidents of looting and a nightly curfew, police and National Guard set up checkpoints to prevent people from entering disaster zones.

Two people were arrested near Vice President Kamala Harris’ home in Brentwood for violating a curfew order after police received reports of a robbery.

On a tree next to the American flag in front of a house in Pacific Palisades hung a handwritten sign that read “looters will be shot.”

But the security checks have left residents frustrated, as they queue for up to 10 hours to try to return and see what, if anything, remains of their homes or check on their relatives.

Blocked from entering an evacuation zone, Altadena resident Bobby Salman, 42, said, “I have to be there to protect my family, my wife, my children, my mother and I can’t even go see them.”

The lines left some people furious about mismanagement, the latest complaint from a population already angry about hydrants that ran dry in the initial shooting.

City officials have formed a united front after reports of a behind-the-scenes dispute between the mayor and the fire chief.

But President-elect Donald Trump accused California officials of incompetence.

“This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our country. They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

Teams with cadaver dogs were sifting through the rubble, several people are known to be missing and the death toll is feared to rise.

Among those known to have died in the tragedy was former Australian child star Rory Sykes, who appeared on the British television show “Kiddy Kapers” in the 1990s.

Climate impact

A major investigation by federal and local authorities was underway to determine what caused the fires.

California Governor Gavin Newsom told Meet the Press that he was also launching a “Marshall Plan” for the state as it seeks to rebuild.

“We already have a team that seeks to reinvent LA 2.0,” he said.

He also emphasized the immediate problem of weather conditions, saying that “the challenge is the winds. These winds will return this afternoon, Sunday night. We have maximum winds on Monday.”

While the start of a wildfire can be deliberate, it is often natural and a vital part of the life cycle of an environment.

But urban sprawl increasingly puts people at risk, and the changing climate—supercharged by humanity’s uncontrolled use of fossil fuels—is exacerbating the conditions that lead to destructive fires.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated channel.)