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California wildfires: 11 dead as hundreds of thousands flee deadly blazes | California wildfires: 11 dead as hundreds of thousands flee deadly blazes |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Under a white plume of smoke and grey hazy skies, officials from Los Angeles and Ventura counties announced that two people had died in the historically destructive Woolsey fire. | |
That took the toll from fires in California to 11. Many more have been reported missing. About 500 miles to the north, nine people were confirmed dead in and around the town of Paradise, where more than 6,700 homes and businesses burned. | |
In LA, officials reported that the Woolsey fire remained 0% contained, but that the dry Santa Ana winds that spread the flames across 70,000 acres over the previous two days had slowed, giving firefighters a better chance of making progress on perimeter control into the weekend. | |
“We had a tough night in relation to this firefight,” the Los Angeles county fire chief, Daryl Osby, told a scrum of reporters gathered in Thousand Oaks, explaining that more homes were lost to the flames before morning. No official count was available, but he said there had been significant structure loss and that damage assessment teams would be working throughout the day. | |
“From our perspective,” he said, “although we did lose a lot of homes, we saved thousands.” | |
Calling the fire conditions the most extreme and toughest he had seen in his career, Osby said 900 firefighters battled the blaze through the night and that all local agency resources were deployed. Back-up from Arizona was on the way, he said, and they would soon ask for more help from state and federal agencies. | |
The Ventura county fire chief, Mark Lorenzen, echoed Osby, saying the agencies “made heroic efforts in saving lives and saving property”. | |
“We know Mother Nature has given us some reprieve today,” he said, “but I need everyone to remain vigilant.” | |
Donald Trump issued an emergency declaration to ensure federal funds were available, but he also rebuked agencies in the state. Tweeting in the early hours of Saturday, the president wrote: “There was no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor.” He also threatened to withhold the funds, due to “gross mismanagement of the forests”. | |
More than 200,000 people have had to flee their homes since two fires erupted in the area on Thursday. Flames from the Woolsey fire, the worse of the two, forced evacuations from Malibu to West Hills and into parts of Thousand Oaks, a community still reeling from the deaths of 12 people in a shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill the day before the fire broke out. | |
“It has been a brutal, hellish three days for Thousand Oaks,” city councilwoman Claudia Bill-de la Peña said, thanking surrounding communities, agencies, law enforcement and fire officials for their support. | |
In an interview with the Guardian, Sgt Eric Buschow of the Ventura sheriff’s department said: “What makes this different for us is that one-two-punch. We had a horrific situation over at the Borderline Bar & Grill, and then just hours later, two big wildfires started.” | |
Even though they are accustomed to fires in this area, Woolsey has been more destructive than most. | |
It has been a brutal, hellish three days for Thousand Oaks | |
“It is changing constantly,” Buschow said, explaining that though winds had died down, dry conditions were fueling the fire. “Hopefully they will make some progress today but the bad news is that by tomorrow that weather is supposed to be back with the big winds. My understanding is we are going to be at red flag conditions through Tuesday.” | |
Across town, in a hotel near the airport, families evacuated from Malibu gathered in the lobby, hoping they might be able to return home – and that their homes still stood. Walter Adrian, who left the previous evening with his girlfriend and son, said it was not the first time they had evacuated in the 10 years they had lived there. He was hopeful their home would be spared, as in past fires. | |
He described the fast decisions made in the moment they were forced to leave. They left their dogs with a friend, wished the best to a neighbor who decided – against orders – to stay behind, and packed quickly. | |
“You just pack whatever you can and sometimes you pack some stupid shit,” he said with a laugh, looking down at his Styrofoam cup of hotel-made tea. “But, then you quickly realize what is important and what is not.” | |
In northern California, in the town of Paradise, the flames descended so quickly that many were forced to run for their lives down the sole road through the mountain town. | |
“This event was the worst-case scenario,” said Butte county sheriff Kory Honea. “It was the event we have feared for a long time. Regrettably, not everybody made it out.” | “This event was the worst-case scenario,” said Butte county sheriff Kory Honea. “It was the event we have feared for a long time. Regrettably, not everybody made it out.” |
“The fire was so close I could feel it in my car through rolled up windows,” said Rita Miller, who fled with her mother. | |
Patrick Knuthson, a fourth-generation resident, said only two of the 22 homes that once stood on his street were still there – his own and a neighbour’s. | |
“The fire burned from one house, to the next house, to the next house until they were pretty much all gone,” Knuthson said. “I lost my home in 2008, and it’s something you can’t really describe until you go through it.” | “The fire burned from one house, to the next house, to the next house until they were pretty much all gone,” Knuthson said. “I lost my home in 2008, and it’s something you can’t really describe until you go through it.” |
The southern California fire affected a number of celebrities. The singer Katy Perry, who lives in the Hollywood Hills, said Trump’s comments were “absolutely heartless”. “There aren’t even politics involved,” she said on Twitter. “Just good American families losing their homes as you tweet, evacuating into shelters.” | |
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