 "New wildfire takes over north of Los Angeles prompting evacuation orders as south awaits rains")
California authorities issued an additional evacuation order after a new fast-moving wildfire emerged north of Los Angeles. The new fire became concerning since the city’s southern side was trying to endure a new round of dangerous winds after being ravaged by five wildfires.
The new and large wildfire broke out late Wednesday morning and quickly damaged nearly 5,000 acres of trees and brush. It sent up an enormous plume of dark smoke near Castaic Lake, a popular recreation area about 40 miles (64 km) from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires, which have been burning for a third week. The authorities promptly took charge of the situation by deploying water-dropping aircraft in the region.
The California Highway Patrol said that at least three schools were evacuated as precautionary measures and the rescue crew is working towards ensuring that the fire does not spread southwards. According to The LA Times, the fire raged north of a large county jail complex. In light of this, the LA sheriff’s department said the agency was moving 476 incarcerated people from the Pitchess detention centre to the North County correctional facility next door.
Southern LA prepares for rain
Meanwhile, southern LA officials are now preparing for potential rains as some residents were allowed to return to the charred Pacific Palisades and Altadena areas. The authorities maintained that gusty weather is more likely to last through Thursday. “We’re going to see another round of critical fire conditions across southern California,” Todd Hall, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said on Wednesday morning. “At this point, it sounds like a broken record.”
Amid the chaos, LA Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order to expedite the cleaning efforts in burn areas to mitigate the environmental impacts of fire-related pollutants. She went on to order the crew to remove vegetation, shore up hillsides and reinforce roads ahead of the possible rain.
LA county supervisors also approved an emergency motion to install flood control infrastructure and expedite the removal of sediment in fire-impacted areas. The orders came shortly after experts warned that a new set of toxic threats might take over LA. They emphasised that the ashes from homes and cars may contain remnants of a multitude of potentially hazardous materials, including lead, battery acid, arsenic and carcinogens found in plastic, used in their construction.
They warned that wildfires increase the chances of mudslides by making the landscape more vulnerable to soil erosion. In January 2018, for example, storms hitting an area in Montecito that had burned in the weeks before triggered a mudslide that killed 23, The Guardian reported. To prevent something similar from happening, LA county supervisors are pushing for flood control installations. Meanwhile, new US President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Los Angeles on Friday.
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