Los Angeles braces for ‘explosive fire growth’ as high winds near

Open Editor’s Digest for free

FT editor Rula Khalaf picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Los Angeles on Monday braced for near “hurricane-force” winds that forecasters said could contribute to the devastating wildfires that have swept through southern California over the past week.

While firefighters were trying to contain it deadly fires As the frenzy continues in the suburbs of the second-largest US city, the National Weather Service has issued a “red flag” warning amid worsening conditions.

According to the NWS, winds of up to 75 mph were expected Monday night into Wednesday morning, combined with extremely dry conditions, creating “critical fire weather.”

“The National Weather Service is predicting near-hurricane-level winds, and that’s why we’re making emergency preparations,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Monday the winds are coming.”

Since last Tuesday, authorities have battled the fires, which have burned more than 40,000 acres of land. California Gov. Gavin Newsom warned that the fires could become The costliest disaster in US history when he clashed with President-elect Donald Trump over the state’s response.

The cause of the fires is not yet known, but lawsuits are expected to begin in the coming weeks.Shares of the utility Edison International fell 11.9 percent on Monday after Bloomberg reported that it had been sued in the case. , which said equipment owned by Southern California Edison was responsible for starting one of the fires. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The largest of the outbreaks is Palaces of the Pacific Ocean As of Monday morning local time, the fire was only 14 percent contained, raising fears that strong gusts in the coming days could reverse progress in fighting the fires.

“Do not do anything that could start a fire,” the NWS warned Monday, as it warned that strong winds could create “explosive fire growth.”

The death toll had risen to 24 by Monday, officials said, and was expected to rise as authorities combed through the rubble to search for the missing.

Bass said firefighters from Los Angeles and the state are “proactively and strategically positioned to save lives.” About 5,000 firefighters were deployed to the Palisades area and another 3,000 to the Eaton fire near Altadena.

The disaster spilled over into the political arena as Trump attacked state officials on Sunday for failing to stop the destruction :

The Republican president-elect accused the California governor, a Democrat, of depleting water supplies to protect endangered fish species and refusing to sign a “water restoration declaration.” Newsom’s office said no such declaration exists.

“That error and misinformation, I don’t think is helpful or helpful to any of us,” Newsom told NBC. Meet the press on Sunday, noting that he had invited the president-elect to visit the affected areas but had not yet received a response.

Meanwhile, city officials have warned against price hikes that have pushed up rental property prices as thousands of people have been forced out of their homes.

Local news site LAist found a Zillow listing for a furnished home in Bel Air going for $29,500 a month, up 86 percent from September.

Cartography by Stephen Bernard