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The California fires show no signs of letting up thanks to Santa Ana winds

A fire that ignited on Tuesday 7 January in Pacific Palisades is still burning. Unfortunately it is now threatening even more communities. The Palisades fire, which The Canary previously reported on, is now burning at 22,600 acres. Firefighters have it at 11% containment. Similarly, the Eaton fire is at 14,117 acres and is 15% contained. Unfortunately, meteorologists are predicting that the Santa Ana winds will continue to pick up again until at least Wednesday 15 January.

This could be devastating as high winds have the ability to blow embers, spreading the fire faster.

Santa Ana winds fanning Pacific Palisades fire

Santa Ana winds, also known as ‘devil winds’, are fast-moving, warm, and dry winds. They originate inland and blow towards the coast of Southern California.

Much of Southern California, and LA in particular, has experienced an extremely dry winter and barely any rain for the last eight months. The last time a significant amount of rainfall fell was last May, which has contributed to drought. Unfortunately, the dry conditions and strong winds created the perfect storm for wildfires.

Authorities have ordered more areas to evacuate east of the fire, including parts of Brentwood and Encino. This was as the fire spread east, and reached the Mandeville Canyon area of Brentwood.

Luckily, current lighter winds are allowing planes and helicopters to drop large amounts of both water and fire retardant, in an effort to protect homes and other structures.

According to CBS, the fires raging around LA have so far taken 16 lives. They have also displaced an estimated 200,000 and destroyed over 12,000 structures, including whole neighbourhoods.

Feature image via Tricia Nelson

By HG

This post was originally published on Canary.