Out-of-control wildfires fanned by hurricane-strength gusts that showed no signs of letting up are raging across greater Los Angeles, killing at least five people, devouring neighborhoods, and forcing the evacuation of at least 130,000 people as the blazes enter their third day.
“This fire storm is ‘the big one’ in magnitude,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said.
There are now five active wildfires burning in Los Angeles County, according to Cal Fire.
The explosive Palisades Fire, which consumed 17,234 acres, and the Eaton, at 10,600 acres, are the largest.
The Sunset Fire burned 60 acres since it started Wednesday in the heart of the Hollywood Hills — with the blocks north of Hollywood Boulevard ordered to evacuate and residents in West Hollywood warned they should flee.
High wind speeds, which fueled the rapidly expanding inferno, decreased overnight, but another surge is expected today.
As of late Wednesday evening local time, winds were generally calm in the valleys and were gusting 15-30 mph in the hills.
Another surge of winds is expected across Southern California on Thursday morning with gusts up to 60 mph remaining into Friday.
Potentially higher wind speed could occur in the mountains.
By midmorning Thursday, gusts are forecast to increase to 40-60 mph. When coupled with continuing low humidity, extreme fire weather danger is expected to continue.
A significant number of wildland firefighters are people in prison for low-level felonies.
Nearly 400 inmates have been deployed to fight the wildfires raging around Los Angeles County, according the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).
Twenty-nine fire crews comprising 395 “incarcerated firefighters” are embedded alongside nearly 2,000 Cal Fire firefighters responding to the raging flames.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Republican President-elect Donald Trump used the six massive blazes as an opportunity to reignite his rhetorical feud with Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Trump and Newsom have clashed bitterly in the past, including over fire prevention, environmental policies, climate change, green vehicles, and immigration.
Trump slammed “the gross incompetence and mismanagement of the Biden/Newscum Duo,” in a social media post.
Trump falsely claimed that California’s environmental policies are to blame for hydrants running dry.
“People are literally fleeing, people have lost their lives, kids lost their schools, families completely torn asunder, churches burned down – this guy wanted to politicize it,” said Newsom, who refused to respond to Trump’s attacks further.
Trump’s attacks were a characteristic attempt to politicize a natural disaster while it was still unfolding.