The Los Angeles medical examiner reported the death toll on Sunday to be 24. Meteorologists in California are cautious that violent winds that ignited the infernos around Los Angeles are projected to pick up again this week.
Officials reported that after a weekend of relatively calm winds, the infamously dry Santa Ana winds would amplify infernos again from Sunday night until Wednesday, reaching speeds of up to 60 mph (96 km/h).
Ahead of the wind’s uptick, some developments have been made in halting the spread of the lethal Palisades and Eaton fires, which are burning on opposite ends of the city. Regional firefighters are being backed by crews from eight other states, as well as Canada and Mexico.
The Los Angeles officials reported the death toll on Sunday to 24, while it said previously at least another 16 remain missing. Sixteen of the dead were found in the Eaton fire zone, while eight were found in the Palisades area. Three wildfires persistently burn around Los Angeles.
The largest fire is the Palisades, which has destroyed more than 23,000 acres and is 13% contained. The Eaton fire is the second biggest and has charred through more than 14,000 acres. It is 27% contained.
The Hurst fire has grown to 799 acres and has been almost fully contained. The wildfires are on the path to become one of the costliest in the USA’s history.
On Sunday, meteorologists from AccuWeather raised their preliminary estimate of economic losses due to the wildfires between $250bn and $275bn.
While firefighters have managed to start containing the largest fires, authorities have alerted that the incoming wind event could lead to “potentially disastrous wind conditions,” with the affected areas put under fire threat.
“Unfortunately, we’re going into the red flag conditions with some potentially disastrous wind conditions between now and Wednesday, with the peak winds expected to be on Tuesday,” Pasadena fire chief Chad Augustin said to the press.
“While we’re making some developments in containing the blazes, the end is not even close yet,” he further said.
The National Weather Service has issued a rare ‘particularly dangerous situation’ warning for Tuesday, with alerts for “extreme fire behaviour” running from 04:00 local time until midday on Wednesday.
Kristin Crowley, the fire chief for the city of LA, issued an advisory for residents near evacuation zones to be ready to leave if an order is issued and to stay off the roads as much as possible in order to not hinder firefighters.
