LA County is facing a swarm of wildfires powered by a rare windstorm. Here is what we know.
There are at least three dangerous and rapidly spreading wildfires in Los Angeles County each having started on Tuesday, Jan 7. The fires are quickly consuming hundreds and thousands of acres across the county with homes, schools and other structures burning down.
The fires have been propelled by a dynamic and rare Santa Ana windstorm that features powerful gusts ranging from 40 to 80 mph throughout the most notably in foothills and mountain areas.
Todd Hall, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, says the strongest winds in Los Angeles County are also still ahead, expected to ramp up through the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 8.
Gusts are expected to be 60 to 80 miles per hour in the regions mountain and valley areas, with a few mountain sites having the potential to see gusts reach 100 miles per hour.
Those winds have made wildfires spread rapidly in the Pacific Palisade and Malibu, the foothills above Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley and in Sylmar.
The Palisades fire quickly swelled to more than 2,920 acres in Pacific Palisades by Tuesday evening and has burned multiple homes and buildings along the coast into Malibu. It has forced at least 30,000 residents to evacuate, as wind-driven embers spread throughout the hillside community.
Near Pasadena, the Eaton fire quickly consumed 400 acres and is burning homes in Altadena and Pasadena. Residents throughout those areas as well as Sierra Madre and Arcadia were under mandatory evacuation orders.
Late Tuesday night, another fire in Sylmar quickly threatened homes and closed the 210 freeway. The Hurst fire was reported shortly before 10:30 p.m. near Diamond Road, according to CalFire. It quickly burned 100 acres in the footprint of the Saddle Ridge Fire that burned 8,799 acres in October 2019, Watch Duty, which tracks firefighting efforts in realtime, said on its website.
In addition to the fires, the strong winds forced President Joe Biden to cancel an event in eastern Riverside County early Tuesday afternoon, White House spokesperson Nicolette Jaworski said.
Southern California Edison has been dealing with power outages and power shutoffs throughout Southern California. Intentional outages are meant to keep electrical equipment from malfunctioning in high winds and causing wildfires.