Wind gusts, humidity may test firefighters battling Los Angeles blazes

The threat of powerful wind gusts, combined with bone-dry humidity, in Los Angeles on Wednesday could test firefighters who have been battling to keep monstrous fires in Los Angeles in check since last week.

Some 6.5 million people in the Los Angeles area were under a critical fire threat as winds were forecast to be 20 to 40 miles (32-64 km) an hour with gusts up to 70 mph and humidity dropping into the single digits, the National Weather Service said.

The death toll from the fires rose by one on Tuesday to 25, according to the Los Angeles medical examiner’s office. The estimate of structures damaged or destroyed held steady at over 12,000, 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.

Winds were tamer than expected on Tuesday, letting firefighters extinguish or get control of some small brush fires that ignited while no major wildfires erupted in the area as feared.

During the day, the milder-than-expected conditions also allowed some 8,500 firefighters from at least seven states and two foreign countries to hold the line on the Palisades and Eaton fires for the second day running.

The Palisades Fire on the west edge of town held steady at 23,713 acres (96 square km) burned, and containment nudged up to 18% – 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 at 35%. The fires 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.

Southern California has lacked any appreciable rain since April, turning brush into tinder as Santa Ana winds originating from the deserts whipped over hilltops and rushed through canyons, sending embers flying up to 2 miles (3 km) ahead of the fires.

Despite losing his Altadena home, Aaron Lubeley, a 53-year-old lawyer, handed out food and water to his neighbors.

“When you stare at your front door that’s gone and you have the few moments to contemplate, what does this really mean to my life? I mean, I still don’t fully understand everything I have is gone,” he said as he stood in his front yard, distributing items. “You have to decide, I have to make … I have to find some meaning in why this happened.”

PRICELESS ART DEEMED SAFE

Urban search and rescue teams worked from an Altadena grocery store parking lot, tracking progress on whiteboards and handing out assignments from inside a trailer.

A team of 50 firefighters and sheriff’s deputies conducted house-by-house searches, looking for any lingering fires and hazards such as lithium-ion batteries connected to solar panels.

The Palisades Fire also approached the priceless art collection at the J. Paul Getty Museum, which houses paintings by Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Monet and Degas.

But the collection remained safely inside the Getty Center’s fortress of travertine stone, fire-protected steel and reinforced concrete.

“It would be extremely foolish to try to remove artwork” from its safe harbor, Getty Trust President Katherine E. Fleming said. In Washington, a battle over emergency aid broke out between Republicans and Democrats over what is already the costliest wildfire in terms of insured losses.

Private forecaster AccuWeather estimates total damage and economic loss between $250 billion and $275 billion, which would make it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, surpassing Hurricane Katrina in 2005. (Reuters)