31,000 people have to evacuate as rain can trigger more deadly dangers in the fire -raised southern California

Cnn
–

Exhausted firefighers fighting deadly infernos for weeks are now fighting several forest fires burning in Los Angeles County – including Hughes Fire, who have burned through more than 10,000 acres since it began less than 48 hours ago.

Thursday night the inferno was 36 % containedAccording to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, also known as Cal Fire.

The fire department largely contributed to the new containment lines, according to Los Angeles County’s Fire Brigade Captain Sheila Kelliher Berkoh.

“They put a lot of work in and did an incredible job of really knocking the heat out of this brand,” Kelliher Berkoh told CNN on Thursday. “And they win certainly lay down a little, which helped us take over on this fire.”

Hughes Fire is north of Santa Clarita, near the uninvited society Castaic. More than 14,000 structures are threatened, according to Los Angeles County’s Coordinated Joint Information Center.

About 16,200 residents in the area were under evacuation orders on Thursday, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, while another 38,700 were under evacuation warnings due to the Hughes fire.

Meanwhile two new fires were reported on Thursday afternoon In San Diego County —–- Gilman and Border 2-Fires– The latter spreads through the Otay Mountain Wilderness, near the US-Mexico border, by a “moderate rate, “ According to Cal Fire.

Border 2-fire doubled its area on Thursday night-spreading over 300 acres to 600 acres in about an hour. There are currently no threats to civilians even though Cal Fire declared that the fire is a threat to critical communication infrastructure.

Thursday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation that will direct $ 2.5 billion in assistance to support the efforts and restoration efforts in areas of Los Angeles, where thousands of acres have been sweating and dozens of humans have been killed by two major forest fires this month.

“This money will be made available right away … for ongoing operations, recovery after disaster, waste removal, work with logistics, traffic management,” Governor Newsom said during a press conference Thursday. “We want to get these dollars out in real time, so there’s no anxiety and stress associated with it.”

The aid package was approved earlier in the day by the state’s lawmakers, According to Associated Press. Supported by both Democrats and Republicans, the package also includes $ 4 million that local governments can spend to rebuild housing and $ 1 million to support school districts and help them rebuild facilities that have been destroyed, AP reports.

The speaker of California State Assembly, Robert Rivas, urged President Donald Trump to approve federal dollars as soon as possible without conditions.

Meanwhile, the threat of several natural fires is not over. National Weather Service extended a red flag warning for Friday morning for most of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, as boned vegetation and brutal Santa Ana winds increase the possibility of more forest fires.

The Hughes fire started just before 7 p.m. 11 Wednesday near Lake Castaic, north of where the fire department is working to fully contain Palisades and Eaton Fires that have burned more than 40,000 Acres and left at least 28 dead since they began on January 7.

The fire is “a completely different animal” than the Palisades and Eaton fires, Kelliher Berkoh told CNN Wednesday night. Two weeks ago, firefighters faced extreme challenges as strong winds grounded air support.

Quiet winds enabled the fire department’s helicopters to perform water drops at night, Kelliher Berkoh said.

When asked about potential trouble with water supply, Kelliher said Berkoh said crews are lucky to have direct access to Castaic Lake and other nearby reservoirs for their fire extinguishing.

But “Dangerous fire weather conditions will continue until Friday as fuels remain extremely dry and ready to burn, with Thursday the period that causes the greatest concern,” said National Weather Service in Los Angeles. “Any fire that starts can grow rapidly and out of control.”

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued a wind-blown dust and ash counseling Until Thursday at 6pm due to the particles left behind by the fires that could potentially affect air quality throughout the county. Residents who cannot avoid going outside should carry an N95 or P100 mask to protect their lungs, according to the Ministry of Health.

Firefighters had a more optimistic view of another fire, the Sepulveda fire, which started Late Wednesday. The brush fire near the Interstate 405 and Sepulveda Boulevard in Los Angeles has stopped moving forward, the city’s fire department said.

About 250 firefighters “jumped on this very quickly and we were able to hold it to only 40 acres,” said firefighter David Ortiz, a Los Angeles Fire Service spokesman. “The Santa Ana winds are blowing against this fire, so we had it in our advantage.”

Treacherous mudslides and ‘toxic’ waste stream could be the next

Large parts of southern California are expected to be poured with desperately needed rainfall this weekend – but it can trigger new dangers.

The Los Angeles and San Diego areas will get more rain this weekend than in the last six months together. Half inch to 3/4 of an empty rain is expected to fall from Saturday to Sunday on the most important combustion arirs from the Palisades and Eaton fires, National Weather Service said.

While that may not sound like much, Los Angeles has only seen 0.03 inches of rain since October 1 – far less than the 5.5 inch average from October to January. The rain that is expected this weekend will be the first drops of January, and they will fall quickly over charred soils that cannot absorb water.

“Much of that rain can fall in a relatively short time,” said Ariel Cohen, meteorologist responsible for the National Weather Service office in Los Angeles. That current will lead to “the possibility of at least shallow waste flows, mudslides and landslides,” Cohen said.

“The incineration arrears, with the widespread loss of trees, shrubs and vegetation, will have a much lower ability to handle the rain and will be more susceptible to mistakes,” he said. “It behaves more like cement; The soil cannot take the water, so it all goes to runoff right away. ”

This means that fast rivers of mud, stone and fire residue can flow downhill. Waste flows can be harmful, “take down other structures and certainly be a threat to life and property,” Cohen said.

Burned structural rubble, other charred waste and the soil beneath them may contain toxic chemicals that can take months to remove.

Los Angeles Mayor, Karen Bass, issued an emergency order this week “to support burnt-out areas and mitigate the serious health and environmental impact of fire-related dangerous polluting substances on the rainwater system, beaches and the sea,” the mayor’s office said.

“I instruct the city staff to quickly install reinforced concrete barriers, put down sandbags and clear garbage to back up burnt areas and slow down the flow of toxins,” Bass said in a release. “These communities have already suffered unimaginable losses – we are taking action against further damage.”

The director of Los Angeles County Public Works said the county is ready.

“When the rain approaches La County, Public Works will mobilize 24/7 storm patrols. All dams and channels for flood control have been prepared for storm and rainwater collection facilities are prepared to work, Mark Pestrella director said Wednesday.

“Our crew clears waste from streets, cleans and prepares garbage pools, exposing sandbags and other systems to prevent runoff with ash and other burnt waste from entering the storm drainage system.”

While the county is leading local efforts to prevent landslides and mudslides, the US Army Corps of Engineers and Federal Emergency Management Agency leads the effort to remove waste, Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said.

Students and inmates are being evacuated

With the rain still a few days away, dry conditions continue to nourish Hughes four.

ONE County prison In Castaic has been partially evacuated, a spokesman for Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said. The prison is located just south of the fire area and can accommodate as many as 4,295 inmates.

About 470 inmates were evacuated from one of the three facilities on Campus and moved to another part of the interning center, the sheriff said. The other two facilities are “structured much better” than the one evacuated, Luna said.

“We have a plan in place … to evacuate the rest of the inmates at the whole plant if we absolutely had to,” Luna said Wednesday without elaborating on it.

Meanwhile, all students from Castaic Middle School and Castaic High School on Wednesday were evacuated to a parking lot in Ralph’s supermarket, according to California Highway Patrol. Students from North Lake Elementary were evacuated to Castaic Sports Complex, said the agency the x.

The Campuses of Valencia and Canyon Country at the College of the Canyons were closed Wednesday and Thursday as a “cautionary measure” due to the Hughes fire, the college said at its Website.

Smoke was visible Wednesday as far south as oxnardA city in Ventura County, located about 50 miles southwest of Castaic, the city’s officials said.

Firefights keep working with the deadly palisades and Eaton-fires

Firefighters are still trying to limit the deadly palisades and eaton-fires that have killed at least 28 people and left whole neighborhoods in ruins.

From Thursday morning it was 23,000 hectare large palisades fire was about 72% contained, according to Cal Fire.

The inferno that started in the Pacific Palisades area of ​​western Los Angeles has killed at least 11 people and destroyed more than 6,700 structures.

The 14,000-acre Eaton brand, which destroyed parts of the Altadena community north of Pasadena, was about 95 % enclosed, Cal Fire said Thursday morning.

Eaton Fire has killed at least 17 people and destroyed more than 9,400 structures.

Firefighters can get help from the rain this weekend. But “When that rain is over, it will dry up again,” said Ortiz, the LAFD spokesman.

“It’s super dry. Any spark will get a new start on a fire that quickly establishes and gets up.”

CNN’s Josh Campbell, Lauren Mascarenhas, Brandon Miller, Robert Shackelford and Eric Zerkel contributed to this report.