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Winds picked up on Tuesday in southern California and at least a couple of new wildfires broke out as firefighters remained on alert in extreme fire weather, two weeks after major blazes started, two of them still burning, in the Los Angeles area.
The fresh high winds – that are coming amid still bone-dry conditions – mark the end of a break in dangerous high fire-risk conditions that have allowed the beleaguered city’s firefighters to largely contain the disastrous blazes that have burnt thousands of homes. The fires have killed at least 27 people and destroyed more than 14,000 structures since they broke out during fierce winds on 7 January.
Gusts could peak at 70mph (113km/h) along the coast and 100mph (160km/h) in the mountains and foothills during extreme fire weather that is expected to last through Tuesday morning. Wind speeds ranged from 35mph (56km/h) along the coast to 63mph (101km/h) in the mountains overnight, according to National Weather Service reports.
The weather service issued a warning of a “particularly dangerous situation” for parts of Los Angeles, Ventura and San Diego counties from Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning due to low humidity and damaging Santa Ana winds.
“The conditions are ripe for explosive fire growth should a fire start,” said Andrew Rorke, a meteorologist with the weather service in Oxnard.
Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles, said on Monday that the city was prepared for any possible new fires and warned the strong winds could disperse ash from existing fire zones across southern California. She urged Angelenos to visit lacity.gov to learn about ways to protect themselves from toxic air during Santa Ana winds.
Cal Fire and local fire departments have positioned fire engines, water-dropping aircraft and hand crews across the region to enable a quick response should a new fire break out.
At least three small fires started in San Diego county. Evacuation orders were issued for the Lilac fire, which had burned about 50 acres (20 hectares). It was growing “with a moderate rate of spread and structures are threatened”, the California department of forestry and fire protection posted. Firefighters made progress on the Pala fire and it was reported as stopped, the agency said. Another blaze, the Friars fire, ignited near a highway on Monday afternoon, prompting a quick response from crews, the San Diego fire department said.
On Monday, Los Angeles fire crews quickly put out a small brush fire that broke out south of the iconic triple-domed Griffith Observatory.
A man suspected of starting the fire was taken into custody, said David Cuellar, a Los Angeles police department spokesperson. Firefighters also quickly extinguished a brush fire along Interstate 405 in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Granada Hills that temporarily closed the northbound lanes.
Fire crews aggressively fought a blaze that also sparked Monday afternoon in the city of Poway, in San Diego county, and stopped its forward progress.
A small amount of rain is forecast for the weekend in the Los Angeles area, though more gusty winds are expected to return on Thursday, Rorke said.
Authorities urged people not to mow their lawns to prevent sparking a fire, nor start any fires that could get out of control. They also urged residents to review their evacuation plans and ready emergency kits and be on the lookout for any new blazes and report them quickly.
David Acuna, a spokesperson with the California department of forestry and fire protection, said the biggest concerns are the Palisades and Eaton fires breaking their containment lines and a new blaze starting.
“Don’t do things to start another fire so we can focus on the mitigation of the current fires,” Acuna said.
More evacuation orders were lifted on Monday for Pacific Palisades and authorities said only residents would be allowed to get back in after showing proof of residency at a checkpoint.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
