Featured Image Credit: Twitter/TONYxTWO
Topics: California, Los Angeles, News, US News, Weather, Wildfires
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: California, Los Angeles, News, US News, Weather, Wildfires
Wildfires are sweeping across California, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.
A fire broke out in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening (January 7) near a nature reserve in the inland foothills north-east of the city, with incredibly dry conditions and high winds causing it to spread at an alarming rate.
It spread so quickly that staff at a care home had to push dozens of elderly residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down the street to a car park.
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Three different wildfires in total have broken out: The Palisades Fire, the Eaton Fire, and the Hurst Fire.
Recent dry winds, including the notorious Santa Anas, have contributed to warmer-than-average temperatures in Southern California, where there has been very little rain so far this season.
The area has not seen more than 0.1in of rain since early May, say PA.
California Govenor Gavin Newsom has since declared a state of emergency, saying last night: "This is a highly dangerous windstorm creating extreme fire risk, and we’re not out of the woods."
The winds were expected to increase overnight, producing isolated gusts that could top 100mph in mountains and foothills – including in areas that have not seen substantial rain in months.
And conditions are expected to continue worsen over today and tomorrow, with the The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection issuing a red flag warning for this timeframe.
This warning covers Greater Los Angeles County, San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys, San Diego & Riverside Mountains, Eastern San Diego Valleys, Inland Orange County, Santa Ana Mountains, Inland Empire, and San Bernardino Foothills, as per a tweet shared by the governing body.
As the fires continue to ravage parts of the LA, someone who was on a plane recorded a birds eye-view of what the devastating scenes looked like.
One person said of the now-viral footage that's doing the rounds on Twitter: "That is crazy! It looks like something from an apocalyptic movie!"
"It's like something out of the movies," echoed another. "Praying for all of them," while others described the scenes as 'intense' and 'unbelievable'.
Elsewhere, some people questioned why the plane was still able to take flight knowing what was going on below, especially as it was deemed too windy for firefighting aircrafts to fly.
The ongoing fires have prompted the Los Angeles Fire Department to take the rare step of putting out a plea for off-duty firefighters to help the 1,400 already out tackling the blaze.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is said to have approved a grant to help reimburse California for the firefighting cost.