Firefighters hope for a break from fierce winds fueling blazes in LA area

Associated Press

Los Angeles: Firefighters hoped for a break Friday from fierce winds fueling massive blazes in the Los Angeles area that have killed 10 people, obliterated whole neighborhoods and set the nation’s second-largest city on edge. The fires have burned more than 10,000 homes and other structures since Tuesday, when they first began popping up around a densely populated, 25-mile (40-kilometer) expanse north of downtown Los Angeles.

No cause has been identified for the largest fires. The level of devastation is jarring even in a state that has grown used to massive wildfires. Dozens of blocks of scenic Pacific Palisades were flattened to smoldering rubble. In neighboring Malibu, blackened palm strands were all that was left above debris where oceanfront homes once stood. Metropolitan LA and its 13 million residents woke up Friday to yet another day of fire-stoking winds and the threat of new flareups. But the gusts were expected to diminish by evening and already have died down from earlier in the week, when hurricane-force winds blew embers that ignited hillsides.

That could give firefighters a chance to make more progress, but meteorologist Rich Thompson warned the break could be short-lived.“We’re looking for a little respite on Friday and Saturday from the Santa Ana winds but then they’re going to pick up again Sunday through most of next week,” he said Thursday evening. New blazes have continued to crop up. On Thursday afternoon, the Kenneth Fire started in the San Fernando Valley just 2 miles (3 kilometers) from a school serving as a shelter for evacuees from another fire. It moved into neighboring Ventura County, but a large and aggressive response by firefighters stopped the flames from spreading. Only hours before the fire roared to life officials said they were encouraged after firefighters aided by calmer winds and help from out-ofstate crews saw the first signs of successfully beating back the region’s two devastating wildfires.

A firefighting plane had to be grounded Thursday after it was struck by a drone flown by a civilian, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said. Nobody was injured. It’s a federal crime to fly a drone during firefighting. Firefighters made gains Thursday at slowing the spread of the major fires, but containment remained far out of reach. Robert Lara sifted through the remains ofis me in Altadena, next to Pasadena, on Thursday with tears in his eyes.