Los Angeles Fire Spreads, 31,000 people evacuate 16 thousand structures

A powerful fire known as Hughes's “Fire exploded north of Los Angeles, rapidly spreading to over 9,400 hectares because of strong winds. As a result of this fire, mandatory evacuations have been ordered for more than 31,000 people, while an additional 23,000 are under evacuation warning. About 4,000 firefighters are engaged in the field, who have been struggling to extinguish the fire, which along with two other major fires have destroyed the area since January 7th.

Southern California is under a red flag warning due to extreme conditions for fire risk, and the National Forest, which extends to 700,000 hectares, is closed to visitors. Firing efforts include the use of helicopters and jets that throw water and fire reactors. In this context, one of the main highways, Interstate 5, was temporarily closed due to heavy smoke.

Apart from Hughes Fire “”, other fires, such as the Eaton Fire and Fire Palisades, have erupted and spread to over 38,000 hectares, causing the deaths of 28 people and the damage or destruction of 16,000 structures. Weather conditions, which have included a long period of drought for nine months, have created a suitable site for the outbreak of fires. However, the rainfall of the expected rain may provide needed help to prevent the spread of fires.

Economic losses from these fires have been estimated to exceed 250 billion dollars.