LA wildfires: 'Explosive fire growth' feared as Santa Ana winds due to change today
LA wildfires: 'Explosive fire growth' feared as Santa Ana winds due to change today
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Forecasters in the US have warned of the risk of " explosive fire growth " as winds are due to change in California today. One week after devastating wildfires broke out in Los Angeles, wiping out entire neighbourhoods and killing at least 24 people, there are fears that the situation could continue to escalate over the coming days. Gusty Santa Ana winds are expected to intensify this week, the National Weather Service (NSW) has said, prompting rare Red Flag Warnings over the "particularly dangerous situation" - an alert reserved for "extreme of the extreme fire weather scenarios.".
Winds blowing in from the east or north-east are set to peak today, with gusts up to 70mph (112km/h) possible. The strongest winds are expected to be north and east of LA, including parts of Ventura and Los Angeles Counties, but they are not expected to reach the Palisades and Eaton fires, which are more than 40 miles (64 km) away.
Forecasters have said that the areas threatened by those two fires are facing winds of 30mph (48km/h) with gusts up to 50 (56km/h), which one local fire chief described as "normal". But after the NSW warned that "extreme fire danger" would continue until Wednesday, there are fears that strong gusts could reverse progress in combating the blazes.
Red Flag Warnings cover a large part of Southern California around LA, including densely populated Thousand Oaks, Northridge and Simi Valley. These warnings mean that "warm temperatures coupled with very low humidity and strong winds are expected to combine, bringing a greater risk of fire danger.".
