Santa Ana [California], January 15: Firefighters on Tuesday held the line against two massive wildfires that have ravaged parts of Los Angeles for the past week, even as desert winds and a parched landscape presented extremely hazardous conditions.
Some 8,500 firefighters from at least seven states and two foreign countries prevented the fires from growing for a second straight day as they gained slightly more control of the perimeter of the blazes, which nonetheless have consumed an area the size of Washington, D.C.
A fleet of aircraft dropped water and retardant into the rugged hills while ground crews with hand tools and hoses have worked around the clock since the fires broke out on Jan. 7, with the aircraft occasionally grounded by high winds.
Red flag conditions were expected to last through Wednesday, forecasters said.
The Palisades Fire on the west edge of town held steady at 23,713 acres (96 square km) burned, and containment increased 3 percentage points to 17% - a measurement of how much of the perimeter was under control.
The Eaton Fire in the foothills east of the city stood at 14,117 acres (57 sq km) with containment up 2 points to 35%.
A third fire, the Hurst, spanning 799 acres (3.2 sq km) was 97% contained, while a new fire broke out in neighboring Ventura County, burning 56 acres while it was 0% contained.
Three other fires in Los Angeles County have been fully brought under control in recent days.
The death toll held steady at 24 as did the estimate of 12,000 structures damaged or destroyed, still portending a Herculean rebuilding effort ahead.
Entire neighborhoods have been leveled, leaving smoldering ash and rubble. In many homes only a chimney is left standing.
Southern California has lacked any appreciable rain since April, turning brush into tinder. Relative humidity has dipped into the single digits for much of the past week, when Santa Ana winds originating from the deserts have whipped over hilltops and rushed through canyons, sending embers flying up to 2 miles (3 km) ahead of the fire.
Red flag conditions peaked overnight, when wind gusts surpassed 50 miles per hour (80 kph), the National Weather Service said.
That led firefighters to deploy assets throughout Southern California due to the danger that new fires might break out.
A few thousand more people were allowed back home but 88,000 remained under evacuation orders with another 84,000 under evacuation warning - large-scale displacements unprecedented in the metropolitan area's history.
Adolph went back to his home to see what he could salvage, but could not get close.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
