LA County Sheriff Robert Luna and the Los Angeles County Fire Department declare that a new fire broke out on Monday night in Los Angeles are serious fires and will remain so until midnight Sunday
There is a red flag warning in effect starting Tuesday morning and lasting through the evening on Wednesday.
Currently the number of people under evacuation orders has dropped to about 92,000, with 89,000 people under evacuation warnings, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Monday. As winds return, new warnings and orders will be issued.
“Winds are expected to oscillate in magnitude over the next 48, hours but the environment is expected to be remain extremely dangerous, favorable to very rapid-fire growth if a fire does start,” the agency said.
There are more than 20 people dead and hundreds of thousands under emergency orders in Southern California after a new fire broke out on Monday night.
Firefighters in LA County battled a number of blazes that broke out last week. The two largest fires, the Palisades and Eaton fires, remained largely uncontained. The Hurst Fire north of Los Angeles was 97% contained, Cal Fire said.
“In the first 11 days of the year there have been more than 40,300 acres burned from 105 fires,” Deputy State Fire Marshal Brice Bennett said over the weekend. “With an estimated 12,000 structures destroyed, this makes the Eaton and Palisades fire likely the second and fourth most destructive fires in California’s history.”
The Angeles National Forest and San Gabriel Mountain National Monument were temporarily closed to the public due to critical fire danger, which will remain closed until midnight Sunday.
The Los Angeles Unified School District Reopened on Monday, May 21 following the Palisades Wildfires and its Implications for Public Safety
Sports are also providing support in other ways. LA’s professional teams will give 8 million dollars to wildfire victims and first responders.
“It’s our job to go give strength, and give hope and give joy,” said Lakers coach JJ Redick, who lost his home in the Palisades Fire. “Sports are a lot of things and sports can certainly provide an escape and a distraction and hopefully sports, and tonight, can provide some joy as well.”
Last week, fires postponed NFL, NBA and NCAA games featuring LA teams. The Clippers and Lakers returned to the court on Monday.
The announcement that was to be made on Tuesday, was put off because of the devastation of wildfires and the donation of 2.5 million dollars to relief funds.
The Academy Awards nominations were originally scheduled for last Friday but have since been delayed twice. The fires and the ensuing evacuees have halted film production as NPR has reported.
Most of the schools and offices of the Los Angeles Unified School District reopened — with limited outdoor and athletic activities — on Monday, though some schools in hard-hit areas remain closed.
It wants customers to make sure they have enough batteries, a flashlight and a portable charge for their phones, so they don’t get stranded in high-risk areas while an outage lasts over 48 hours.
To avoid starting fires, authorities are urging residents to take precautions. Those include not using lawnmowers on dry vegetation, ensuring trailer chains do not drag on the ground and never throwing cigarettes or matches out of a vehicle.
The county itself may also take additional steps. While the red flag warning is in effect, the LA Department of Water and Power said they might ask fire authorities to take away power lines as a preventative measure.
“PDS Red Flag Warnings are for the extreme of the extreme fire weather scenarios,” the NWS tweeted. “In other words, this setup is about as bad as it gets.”
A large swath of southwest California is under red flag warnings through Wednesday, meaning there is a high risk for rapid fire growth if a fire starts.