LOS ANGELES, Oct 31 — Firefighters in California struggled to contain a new fast-moving blaze yesterday that threatened thousands of homes and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, as rare “extreme” red flag warnings were issued for much of the Los Angeles region.
The so-called Easy Fire in the Simi Valley northwest of Los Angeles erupted around 6.00am, forcing the evacuation of the library and nearby homes as it spread to more than 1,500 acres (526 hectares), officials said.
Fire crews raced to protect the hilltop library surrounded by dense brush, as helicopters and aircraft dropped water and fire retardant on the flames that were fed by powerful wind gusts.
Horses and other animals at area ranches were also being evacuated, with people rushing from outside the region to help.
“The fire outflanked us very rapidly, pushed by those 40 to 50 mile-per-hour winds,” Ventura County Fire Assistant Chief Chad Cook told reporters. “We did experience gusts up to 65 miles an hour this morning, which made long-range spotting very very dangerous and also quickly outpaced the initial attack resources.”
Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said 7,000 homes were under mandatory evacuation orders affecting some 26,000 residents.
Melissa Giller, a spokeswoman for the library, told local radio that the archives and much of the memorabilia from the Reagan administration and from his time as governor of California were safely stored in an underground fireproof vault at the facility.
The flames were closest to a pavilion housing a former Air Force One aircraft. By late afternoon, the fire had spared the building, though authorities warned the situation could quickly change because of the fierce winds that can spread embers for miles.
‘Crazy morning’
“It was a crazy morning, it was unexpected,” Duke Blackwood, executive director of the library told AFP. “At this point, most of the fire danger is out but there (are) still a lot of hot spots and smoke.”
Authorities said it was unclear what caused the fire, which started near Easy Street and raced through hillsides toward neighbourhoods.
The fire broke out amid “critical” or “extremely critical” red flags warnings in parts of southern California because of powerful so-called Santa Ana winds, with potential gusts of up to 80 miles per hour (130 kilometres per hour) in mountainous areas.
“We expect the Santa Anas to be howling,” the National Weather Service said, adding that the red flag warnings were in effect through this evening.
Some 18 million Californians live in the areas affected.
Several other brush fires also erupted throughout the day yesterday in other areas of southern California, stretching resources and creating a traffic nightmare.
Closer to Los Angeles, firefighters were battling the Getty Fire, which began near the famous Getty Centre museum on Monday and by yesterday afternoon had burned 745 acres, with 27 per cent containment.
Authorities said they feared the fire, which was caused by a tree branch that fell on power lines, could spread because of the strong winds expected to last through this evening.
Still, evacuation orders were lifted yesterday afternoon for most people affected by the blaze.
Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Margaret Steward said that in anticipation of the record-strong Santa Ana winds, all staff had been mobilised and additional backup brought in.
“These resources will be strategically placed in key locations that have a history of being prone to wildfire,” she said.
No fatalities
Mandatory evacuations were also ordered yesterday in the Jurupa Valley, about an hour’s drive east of Los Angeles, after a fire broke out near a freeway and quickly spread to 250 acres.
Farther north, in Sonoma County, Cal Fire, the California fire department, said firefighters had made progress overnight battling the Kincade Fire, which has consumed 76,825 acres (31,000 hectares) and led to mandatory evacuation orders affecting nearly 200,000 people.
More than 5,000 firefighters backed by 600 fire engines, 27 helicopters and air tankers were battling the inferno, which has destroyed 206 homes and commercial properties, including several wineries, and was now 30 per cent contained, Cal Fire said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a statewide emergency because of the fires and the state’s largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric, has been imposing rolling blackouts in the northern and central parts of the state in a bid to reduce the fire risk.
Other utilities in the southern part of the state have also shut off power to customers.
The wildfires spreading through the state come as California is still reeling from the aftermath of the most destructive wildfire in state history—the Camp Fire, which destroyed the town of Paradise and killed 86 people last year.
Similar blazes in northern California, including in the Napa and Sonoma wine regions, killed 44 people in 2017 and destroyed thousands of structures.
Remarkably, there have been no fatalities linked to this year’s fires. — AFP
