Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Firefighters are mounting an all-out assault to prevent the deadliest wildfire to threaten Los Angeles from spreading to one of the city’s most exclusive neighborhoods.
Air crews are bombarding the burning hills with water and fire retardant to contain the Palisades fire, which has spread 1,000 acres and is now threatening Brentwood.
Officials have been on the defensive amid growing anger as firefighters battled to contain the fast-moving flames.
Winds are expected to pick up again overnight, fueling the flames that have already killed at least 11 people.
Reuters“LA County experienced another night of unimaginable horror and heartbreak,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said Saturday.
Firefighters have made modest progress against the worst of the infernos, the Palisades Fire, which has burned nearly 23,000 acres and is 11% contained.
But the fire has spread into the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood, prompting evacuation orders for areas of Brentwood, a posh enclave that is home to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Disney CEO Bob Iger and NBA star LeBron James.
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 has not been damaged so far.
The second largest fire, the Eaton Fire, has destroyed more than 14,000 acres and is 15% contained. Firefighters have mostly contained two smaller fires, the Kenneth and Hurst fires.
But the National Weather Service warned that the Santa Ana winds that initially fueled the fires would pick up again Saturday and Sunday.
Seven neighboring states, the federal government, and Canada and Mexico have committed resources to California.
The cause of the fires has not yet been determined. The two largest combined have destroyed an area more than twice the size of Manhattan.
About 153,000 inhabitants are under mandatory evacuation orders and another 166,000 have been warned to flee.
Political repercussions have begun.
On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat said to have the White House’s aspirations, ordered an investigation into a key reservoir out of service and some fire hydrants running dry.
Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley complained about the lack of water.
“When a firefighter gets to a hydrant, we expect there will be water,” he said.
Chief Crowley also attacked city leadership for cutting his department’s budget and eliminating mechanic positions, which he said put more than 100 fire extinguishers out of service.
On Saturday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass – who was criticized for being in Ghana at the inauguration of the president of the African country when fires broke out in LA on Tuesday – revealed her tensions with Chief Crowley.
“Let me be clear,” Bass said at a press conference, “the fire chief and I are focused on fighting these fires and saving lives, and we will work through any differences we may have privately.”
More than 70,000 people have signed a change.org petition calling for the mayor’s immediate resignation.
As fears of looting grow, a dusk-to-dusk 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 have been made, among other things, for thefts, looting and border violations.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said cadaver dogs are helping 40 search and rescue teams scour the devastated neighborhoods.
The death toll is expected to rise when house-to-house raids are carried out.
The flames were so intense that the alloys of the car’s wheels melted into pools of liquid metal.
Real estate agent Rick McGeagh told Reuters news agency that only six of 60 homes in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood survived.
Standing in his house was a statue of the Virgin Mary.
“Everything else is ash and rubble,” said the 61-year-old father of three.
