LA faces “extreme fire danger” as high winds predict

Winds that have fueled fires in the US city of Los Angeles are expected to flare up again in the early hours of Wednesday – after the 25th confirmed death from the massive outbreak in a week.

Forecasters have again identified an area of ​​”extreme fire risk”, highlighting the level of danger in a region north-west of the city centre.

An increase in predicted wind speeds threatens to further fan the remaining four fires, and firefighters have made further progress in a few days of calmer conditions.

Wind speeds are expected to drop further after Wednesday, but officials have stressed the need for rain to help firefighters fight the blaze.

The 25th death was confirmed by the LA County Medical Examiner’s Office. Thirteen other people are still missing.

Most of the victims have died in the Eaton fire, which has burned more than 14,000 hectares north of the city, but is now 35% contained by firefighters.

Further west, the larger Palisades Fire has burned more than 23,000 acres and is now 18% contained. Two smaller fires are still burning.

Some victims of the Eaton fire have now been allowed to return to their homes, although officials say they have no set date for repopulating the Palisades area, the blaze-ravaged area for which it’s named.

So tens of thousands of people are still under evacuation orders – including nighttime curfews – and thousands of homes have been destroyed in one of the costliest natural disasters in American history.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the scenes “unimaginable” as she vowed to use her executive powers to launch rapid reconstruction efforts.

Enacting other measures to help locals, another official, the L.A. County supervisor, said an emergency declaration would be made to prevent L.A. landlords from surging prices amid the crisis.

Wednesday’s critical conditions are due to the effects of moderate to strong Santa Ana winds, along with very low humidity, BBC weather forecaster Sarah Keith-Lucas said.

Winds are expected to pick up again at 03:00 (11:00 GMT) for twelve hours, according to the local office of the National Weather Service (NWS). Gusts can reach 50 mph (80 km/h).

Compared to last week’s conditions, the winds are “weaker but still stronger,” the NWS warned.

Because of this, areas northwest of Los Angeles – including Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks – have been particularly dangerous.

But conditions are expected to improve on Thursday and until Friday. Despite the changing winds, no rain is expected for at least the next week, added BBC forecaster Sarah Keith-Lucas. And the Santa Ana winds that have been blamed for starting the fires may develop again from Sunday.

Pasadena’s city fire chief echoed the need for precipitation.

There had been “no real rain” in southern California for more than 250 days, Chad Augustine told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

On Wednesday, his firefighters “will be on guard ready to make sure we hold our containment lines and don’t burn any more structures,” Mr. Augustin added.