Washington: Fire-ravaged Los Angeles was on Monday preparing for elevated bushfire risk, with the National Weather Service declaring a rare “particularly dangerous situation” warning for some areas, due to commence in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The alert, which indicates extreme urgency, pertains to three regions in and around LA including the western Santa Monica Mountains, hills surrounding the San Fernando Valley and the I-5 corridor north of Santa Clarita. Winds with gusts up to 113km/h were expected, along with dangerously low humidity.
The devastation from the Palisades Fire is seen from the air as a house remains standing at bottom in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.Credit: AP
The NWS said while peak winds would not be as severe as those which fanned the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires last week, they would be “strong enough to potentially cause explosive fire growth”. The PDS alert was in place from 4am Tuesday until midday on Wednesday, local time.
California governor Gavin Newsom noted the PDS warning had been issued four times in the past three months, including before last week’s blazes, and each time had preceded damaging fires. Prior to 2024, the alert had not been issued since 2020.
Los Angeles City fire chief Kristin Crowley told a press briefing on Monday morning that teams were on standby and conducting patrols for any new fires that may break out. In addition, more than 5000 firefighting personnel were tackling the ongoing Palisades fire, which had reached 14 per cent containment.
In positive news, crews had made “excellent” progress putting out flare-ups and spot fires overnight, Crowley said. Some evacuation orders in the Santa Monica area have also been lifted.
“We are not in the clear as of yet, and we must not let our guard down,” Crowley said. “We have, right now, extreme fire behaviour, and we need to make sure that the community is staying updated.”
LA County fire chief Anthony Marrone noted the Eaton blaze did not grow on Sunday, “which is a very good thing”, and had reached 33 per cent containment. It was being fought by about 3400 personnel.
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