The wildfire in Los Angeles, California, has spread, resulting in at least five deaths and evacuation orders for 150,000 residents. The strong winds fueling the fire are expected to continue for the next few days, potentially worsening the situation.
On the 8th (local time), according to CNN and the New York Times, the California Fire Department reported that a new fire broke out around 5:45 PM in Runyon Canyon, northwest of Hollywood Hills in LA.
The fire authorities, considering the simultaneous occurrence of wildfires, have named this fire the “Sunset Fire” and issued evacuation orders for areas around Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Mulholland Drive, the 101 Freeway, and Hollywood Boulevard.
This brings the total number of wildfires in LA to seven: the Pacific Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire, Hearst Fire from the previous day, and the newly started Woodley Fire, Olivas Fire, Lydia Fire, and Sunset Fire. Among these, the Woodley and Olivas Fires have been 100% contained.
According to CNN, the wildfire damage so far includes Palisades Fire at 15,832 acres (about 64 km²), Eaton Fire at 10,600 acres (about 43 km²), Hearst Fire at 700 acres (about 2.83 km²), Woodley Fire at 30 acres (about 0.12 km²), Olivas Fire at 11 acres (about 0.05 km²), Lydia Fire at 80 acres (about 0.32 km²), and Sunset Fire at about 42 acres (0.16 km²).
There are five fatalities, numerous injuries, over 1,000 buildings destroyed, and power outages affecting over 1.5 million households. Evacuation orders have been issued to more than 155,000 nearby residents. Bloomberg News, citing U.S. weather service AccuWeather, reported that the estimated damage from the LA wildfires is between $52 billion and $57 billion (about 75 to 83 trillion KRW).
The fire is expected to grow larger. Although 7,500 personnel have been deployed to suppress the wildfires, efforts are hindered by strong winds reaching speeds of up to 129 km/h and depleted fire hydrants. Except for the Lydia Fire (40% contained) and the Hearst Fire (10% contained), the containment rate of other fires remains at 0%. The U.S. Weather Service predicted that while the winds began to weaken on the 8th, they will continue until the evening of the 10th.
U.S. President Joe Biden canceled his final overseas trip to Italy to command the disaster response. He inspected the wildfire response site and declared a large-scale disaster area in California, allowing federal funds and resources to be allocated for firefighting and victim support. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved Fire Management Assistance Grants to cover the firefighting costs in California.