LA wildfires death toll rises to 24, fire chief says ready for whipping winds

The Los Angeles Fire Department’s fire chief, Kristin Crowley, said that her team is “ready” to deal with the “critical fire weather” that can cause more havoc across the city. On Sunday, California officials raised alarms about the strengthening of wind in the coming days that will expand the swath of destruction through the city. Not much has been done to control the fire situation.

The authorities have contained less than 30 per cent of two of the biggest wildfires blazing across LA. The death toll currently stands at 24 with officials fearing that it might increase. Amid the chaos, the LA fire department maintained that they had managed to control and erase ravaging fires in many neighbourhoods. Firefighters also maintained that shifting Santa Ana winds could blow the Palisades fire, which has razed almost 24,000 acres, back on itself towards the coast.

“This wind event is approaching us, and it’s approaching us very, very quickly. I want to reassure you that your LAFD, all of our regional partners, every single agency that has come from up and down this state and outside the state, we are ready,” Crowley said at a press briefing on Sunday.

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“Now, what do we need from the community? … We need you to stay informed. Please stay informed. With trusted news and official updates, be prepared to evacuate. We keep going back to that, but with this next wind event, [we] got to stay informed and follow all evacuation warnings and orders,” she added.

Thousands of more personnel were assigned to deal with the fire.

The fire department officials maintained that more than 4,700 personnel were assigned to stop the blazes from spreading across the city. Christian Litz, a battalion chief with the LA County Fire Department, said the Palisades fire was “looking really good as far as flame activity but there’s still heat all along the edges” and crew were still working to ensure there was “no fire progression or to limit it as much as possible," The Guardian reported.

“We have airplanes, we have helicopters, even drones. We’re dropping retardant, we’re dropping water everywhere we can to secure that edge,” he added. Despite fears that high winds might obstruct airborne firefighting, several aircraft continue to drop fire retardant and water throughout the day. Meanwhile, LA County Sheriff Robert Luna said the fires weren’t over but “closer to being over”. However, he maintained that the curfew will still be in place in several neighbourhoods.

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Luna said he recognized that many evacuated LA residents were keen to get back to their houses but warned that “a lot of areas look like they were hit by a bomb”. Cadaver dogs are being used for a thorough search operation in the affected areas. “I don’t expect good news from those,” he said.

Newsome and Trump spar over wildfires

Amid the chaos, California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Sunday that the fires have become the worst natural disaster that has hit the United States “in terms of just the costs associated with it, in terms of the scale and scope”. His administration garnered major criticisms from US President-elect Donald Trump who returns to the White House in just eight days.

“The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out. Thousands of magnificent houses are gone, and many more will soon be lost. There is death all over the place. This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country. They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?” Trump wrote on TruthSocial. The Republican firebrand has been notorious when it comes to making a succession of false claims aimed both at Newsom and Democrats.

In an interview with the podcast Pod Save America released on Saturday, the California governor went on to call Trump “delusional” and slammed him for threatening to withhold disaster relief funds. “He’s done it in the past, not just here in California. The rhetoric is very familiar, it’s increasingly acute, and obviously, we all have reason to be concerned about it,” Newsom said. He went on to invite Trump to the state to look at the situation on the ground.

With inputs from agencies.