The next few hours are critical for firefighters battling the Los Angeles wildfires. Dangerous winds are fueling an extreme fire threat are set to last until roughly mid-afternoon in parts of Ventura and Los Angeles counties.
Winds should ease even further by 6 p.m. PT – a reprieve for those fighting and enduring fires that have killed at least 25 people.
The fire department pre-deployed necessary resources and followed protocol, the LA fire chief said today. Her response comes a day after the Los Angeles Times says the department failed to properly position 1,100 firefighters as winds picked up in the Palisades Fire. Mayor Karen Bass said she stood by the department, adding, “The buck always stops with me.”
A CNN analysis of the most recent data shows the Los Angeles Fire Department is less staffed than almost any other major city.
Experts have said no fire department would have been able to take on the combination of factors that resulted in the blazes.
The Eaton and Palisades fires are now the most destructive and second-most destructive wildfires, respectively, in Southern California history.
The fires over the past week were larger and hotter than they would have in a world without planet-warming fossil fuel pollution, a UCLA analysis suggests.
Source: CNN
