At least five fatalities have been claimed by wildfires that have swept Los Angeles and caused tens of thousands of people to flee their homes. Some parts of Hollywood are in danger of being completely engulfed by flames.
Here is what we know about the disaster.
Record damage
The two main outbreaks, Palisades and Eaton, have already destroyed 1, 000 buildings each.
According to data from the California Fire Department, they are the two most destructive in Los Angeles County’s history.
Causes of the fires
Heavy rains from the El Nino weather system last year caused excessive vegetation growth in the first half of 2024. Then in the second half of the year there was drought across southern California, with only 4 mm (0.15 inches) of rain in central LA.
The five outbreaks that were ravaging Los Angeles were brought on by strong winds and dry conditions.
In addition, the temperature — around 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit) in the Californian megacity in the middle of the day — is high for the start of winter.
According to Kristina Dahl, vice president for science at Climate Central, “We see these fires spread when it is hot, dry, and windy, and right now, all of those conditions are in place.”
The toll so far
Five people have died in the fires, but the city’s authorities are concerned that the charred debris will contain more bodies.
The current outbreaks are small: nearly 120 square kilometers (close to 30 acres) compared to the other fires that have ravaged California recently and that have sometimes lasted for several thousand or so kilometers.
Despite being contained in residential areas, how destructive they have been sets them apart from earlier wildfires.
They have around 2, 000 houses or buildings since Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of more than 100, 000 Los Angeles residents, including in the historic Hollywood district, whose famous Boulevard is threatened by flames.
The flames have destroyed a hundred luxury residences costing millions of dollars, which means it the fire could be the costliest ever recorded: damage was estimated at $57 billion (55 billion euros) by AccuWeather.
Disruption
On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden was in Los Angeles, where he had been expected to announce the creation of two new national monuments.
Due to the wildfires, several other scheduled events were either postponed or cancelled, and that announcement was forced to be canceled.
These included the televised Hollywood ceremony’s annual Critics Choice Awards gala, which was traditionally attended by many A-list celebrities.
The Oscar nominations announcement was also postponed for January 19 as well.
Filming of LA-based shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Hacks” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” has also been paused, and the Universal Studios theme park has closed.
Biden canceled his upcoming trip to Italy, which would likely have been his final overseas trip, to concentrate on the federal response to the fires.
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