U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday approved a federal emergency declaration for California’s wildfires that will release money and resources to battle the blazes. The president warned that area’s recovery will take time.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department faced four life-threatening wildfires that have killed at least two people, burned more than 1,000 buildings, and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate.
“The L.A. County Fire Department was prepared for one or two major brush fires, but not four, especially given these sustained winds and low humidities,” L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone said Wednesday.
He said more than 2,000 hectares have burned and the fire is continuing to spread.
“We have no percentage of containment,” Marrone said.
Officials have warned residents to pay attention to evacuation orders and leave when directed.
Two thousand National Guard members have been deployed to help local firefighters.
In the Pacific Palisades, the fire jumped from one house to the next, pushed by hurricane-force winds. In the same area, firefighters said hydrants had run dry.
“We had a tremendous demand on our system in the Palisades, Janisse Quiñones, chief executive and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said Wednesday. “We pushed the system to the extreme.”
The call for water was “four times the normal demand … for 15 hours straight,” she added.
Later Wednesday, support aircraft that had been grounded by the strong winds were airborne again, dropping water and fire retardant on the fire.
More than 400,000 homes and businesses are without power across Los Angeles, according to poweroutage.us.
Washington is supporting California’s firefighting efforts with four U.S. Forest Service large air tankers and an additional tanker in on route. The federal government has also helped the firefighting efforts with 10 helicopters. Meanwhile, dozens of the Forest Service fire engines are ready to be deployed.
Some information in this report came from The Associated Press.
