California Los Angeles Wildfire: Death Toll At 10, Air Quality Hazardous In Southern California

Most parts of South California are seeing unhealthy air quality as raging wildfires fill the air with smoke and ash, CNN said.

Shortly after midnight on Friday, San Marino, near the Eaton fire, had an air quality index of 431, according to IQair. This index is well into “hazardous” levels, or a level 6 of 6 on the air quality index scale, CNN said.

An estimated 1,000 structures have been destroyed in the hilly coastal neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, making it the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history.

The wreckage surpassed that of the Sayre Fire of November 2008, which destroyed 604 structures in Sylmar, the northernmost suburb of the city, according to statistics kept by the Wildfire Alliance, a partnership between the city's fire department and MySafe:LA.

Some top Hollywood stars are among thousands of people who have lost their homes in the Los Angeles wildfires. Celebrities including Anthony Hopkins, Paris Hilton, Billy Crystal, and Adam Brody have lost their homes in the devastating wildfires currently sweeping through the Los Angeles area, reports said.

According to a report by the LA Times, officials on January 9 said that more than 9,000 homes, businesses and other buildings appeared to have been damaged or destroyed in the Palisades and Eaton fires. Around 5,300 of these structures were destroyed in the Palisades fire, while another 4,000 to 5,000 structures were estimated to be damaged or destroyed in the Eaton fire burning in the Altadena area.

New satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies reveals that the Palisades Fire has almost entirely ravaged much of Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, CNN reported.

The images, captured in false color to enhance the visualization of burned areas, show any remaining vegetation in red.

AccuWeather has estimated preliminary damages and economic losses to be between $52 billion (4.26 trillion INR) and $57 billion (4.67 trillion INR).

Los Angeles is experiencing one of the most devastating wildfires in its history, with news reports and scientists attributing the unprecedented destruction to a combination of weather patterns, strong winds, and climate change.

Media reports quoting officials said that around 180,000 people have been forced from their homes. Reports also showed that a new brush fire, the Kenneth Fire, emerged in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles, near the Calabasas neighborhood, leading to more evacuations.

The two biggest wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area have killed 10 people so far and burned at least 10,000 homes, buildings and other structures, news agency AP quoting officials said as they urged more people to heed evacuation orders after a new blaze ignited and quickly grew.

The fast-moving Kenneth Fire started in the late afternoon in the San Fernando Valley just 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from a school serving as a shelter for fire evacuees and then moved into neighbouring Ventura County by the evening.

Eight C-130 military transport planes have been activated to support firefighting efforts across Los Angeles, CNN reported quoting US Northern Command.

According to a statement from US Northern Command, planes equipped with Modular Aerial Fire Fighting Systems (MAFFS) and their crews will be deployed from Nevada, Wyoming, and Colorado to the Channel Islands in Southern California, joining other MAFFS-equipped aircraft already stationed in California.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna reported that approximately 20 people have been arrested in disaster zones since the fires began on Tuesday, amid reports of looting, Guardian reported.

Luna has committed to increasing patrols, stating that his officers, soon to be supported by California National Guard soldiers, will take proactive measures to stop anyone found in evacuation areas.

Los Angeles County officials announced that the Eaton fire near Pasadena that started on Tuesday night has burned more than 5,000 structures, a term that includes homes, apartment buildings, businesses, outbuildings and vehicles, news agency AP said.

To the west in Pacific Palisades, the largest of the fires burning in the LA area has destroyed more than 5,300 structures.

Traci Park, councilmember for Los Angeles’ District 11, which includes the Pacific Palisades, said the ongoing blazes have been “horrifying, terrifying and traumatic,” and that the people who are affected are not just her constituents but also her friends.

Devastation is partly a result of “chronic underinvestment in critical infrastructure,” Los Angeles council member, CNN reported.

All schools in the Los Angeles unified school district, the nation라이브 바카라 second largest, will be closed on Friday because of the heavy smoke wafting over the city and ash raining down in parts, and classes will not resume until the conditions improve, the Guardian reported quoting officials.

Evacuation orders and an alarm sound were mistakenly sent to cellphones of residents all over Los Angeles County and beyond on Thursday afternoon, NBC reported. Quoting officials, the report said that the widespread alert was an error.

The text message warning was sent to millions of people around 4 p.m. local time, including in places far from where wildfires are burning out of control. “An EVACUATION WARNING has been issued in your area,” the text message read, in part. It arrived with a loud buzzing sound.

The California National Guard will be called to help law enforcement after Governor Gavin Newsom approved a request for assistance from Los Angeles County, CNN reported.

Authorities in the area have been warning of looters and scammers “who are targeting vulnerable victims” and have confirmed arrests have been made. Hundreds of members of the National Guard will be sent to boost capacity of local law enforcement and stationed at traffic control points to ensure safety, according to a statement from Newsom라이브 바카라 office, CNN said.

Oscar-winning actor and director Mel Gibson has expressed frustration at the city라이브 바카라 response to the wildfires which has seen criticism aimed at governor of California, Gavin Newsom, and Los Angeles mayor, Karen Bass, reports the Press Association (PA), the Guardian reported.

During a podcast interview with Joe Rogan, Gibson expressed frustration, saying Newsom “didn’t do anything” to help address underlying environmental issues which have remained a problem in southern California for many years.

“I think Newsom said ‘I’m going to take care of the forest and maintain the forest and do all that kind of stuff’ – he didn’t do anything,” Gibson told Rogan.

The fast-moving Kenneth Fire started in the late afternoon in the San Fernando Valley just 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from a school serving as a shelter for fire evacuees and then moved into neighbouring Ventura County by the evening.

Only hours earlier officials expressed encouragement after firefighters aided by calmer winds and help from crews from outside the state saw the first signs of successfully beating back the region's devastating wildfires that have killed 10 people so far.

“We are expecting this fire to rapidly spread due to high winds,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said, echoing the forecast that called for winds to strengthen Thursday evening through Friday morning.

While lightning is the most common source of fires in the U.S., according to the National Fire Protection Association, investigators were able to rule that out quickly. There were no reports of lightning in the Palisades area or the terrain around the Eaton fire, which started in east Los Angeles County and has also destroyed hundreds of homes.

The next two most common causes: fires intentionally set, and those sparked by utility lines.

John Lentini, owner of Scientific Fire Analysis in Florida, who has investigated large fires in California including the Oakland Hills fire in 1991, said the size and scope of the blaze doesn't change the approach to finding out what caused it.

“This was once a small fire,” Lentini said. “People will focus on where the fire started, determine the origin and look around the origin and determine the cause.”

So far there has been no official indication of arson in either blaze, and utility lines have not yet been identified as a cause either.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Friday said the tragedy caused by wildfires in Los Angeles should prompt reflection on the destruction in Gaza.

"The devastation caused by the recent fires in LA is deeply shocking and serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of environmental negligence. However, this tragedy should also prompt reflection on the destruction in Gaza," Mufti said in a post on X.

In her post she said while the fires in LA can be seen as a natural disaster that, with better prevention, might have been avoided, the devastation in Gaza is a result of actions by "a rogue Israel government," with many countries and even celebrities in LA ?looking on, often indifferent or complicit.

"Hopefully, the people witnessing the destruction in LA will gain a deeper understanding of the profound impact that comes when homes and lives are torn apart," Mufti, a former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, added.