Destructive Los Angeles Fires Explained in Photos

Photos show why the Los Angeles fires were the worst in the city’s history

Who Andrea Thompson & Amanda Stosz

Within hours, entire blocks of the Los Angeles area were destroyed, burning prosperous communities and leaving thousands of people with only the belongings they took as they fled their homes. fast moving fires. More than 10,000 structures have burned in the region on about 35,000 hectares.

The The fires were fueled by unusually strong Santa Ana winds that turned the bushfires into inferno: those winds come down from the interior desert through the narrow mountain canyons, and in this case, reached hurricane force in some places. Faced with such strong winds and blowing embers fueling the blaze, there is little firefighters can do beyond conducting rescue operations and saving individual structures.

The disaster, possibly one of the most destructive and expensive wildfires ever to hit the state of California, is also the result of an overlap between Santa Ana’s windy season and a very warm and dry early winter. The cold season is usually when the rains come and reduce the risk of fire. This overlap is increasingly likely with climate change.

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There have been many stories of the raging battles and damage caused by firefighters, but as the saying goes, pictures really tell the story in a way that words often cannot. here American scientific He has collected photos that show some of the key aspects of the fires around Los Angeles.

Smoke from the Palisades Fire billows over the ocean on January 8. Both that fire and the Eaton Fire have produced large plumes of smoke that have left surrounding neighborhoods with poor air quality.

At the time of the incident, the wind gusted over 70 to 80 kilometers per hour in some places. Gusts reached 99 mph in part of the San Gabriel Mountains. Wind speed sent embers away from the fire front, fanning flames and igniting homes, trees and other structures.

Firefighters battling the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on January 7 show the intensity of the blaze. or saved thousands of burnt houses.

Los Angeles County firefighters unsuccessfully attempt to pump out water as they battle the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, in January.

On January 8, a residential building burned down in the Eaton Fire in Altadena.

The scale of the fires is made clearer in this infrared satellite image showing the heat signature of homes and other buildings in Altadena burned by the Eaton Fire.

A man walks past downed power lines in the business district of Altadena on January 8. About 5,000 structures in the neighborhood were burned.

A firefighting helicopter drops water as the Sunset Fire burns in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles on the evening of January 8. Such water drops were not possible in the Los Angeles area the day before due to dangerous winds.

Homes burned by the Palisades fire on January 9 are seen. Whole blocks of houses were almost wiped out.