Los angeles: Easing winds delivered a brief but much-needed reprieve to firefighters Tuesday as they battled two massive blazes burning in the Los Angeles area, and the National Weather Service pushed back its unusually dire warning of critical fire weather until early the following day.
Forecasters said the winds were below danger levels in the evening, but they were expected to strengthen overnight with potentially fire-fuelling gusts. Red flag warnings remained in effect from Central California to the Mexican border until late afternoon Wednesday.
Winds increased Tuesday but not to the near-hurricane-force levels that were predicted to happen earlier in the day. Still the danger was not over, officials said.
“Key message: We are not out of the woods yet,” the National Weather Service in Los Angeles said in a post on social media. “The winds underperformed today, but one more enhancement could happen tonight-tomorrow.”
This round of Santa Ana winds was not expected to be as mighty as last week, but they could carry fire-sparking embers for miles and stoke new outbreaks in a region where at least 25 people have already been killed. Firefighters made more progress on the Palisades Fire, the largest and most stubborn blaze. CalFire Operations Section Chief Christian Litz said he took a helicopter ride around the perimeter and saw no active flames, though it was far from over.
Nearly 90,000 households lost electricity as utilities shut off power to prevent their lines from sparking new blazes.
Weary and anxious residents were told to be ready to flee at a moment’s notice. They remained vigilant, keeping an eye on the skies and on each other: Police announced roughly 50 arrests, for looting, flying drones in fire zones, violating curfew and other crimes.
Of those, three people were arrested on suspicion of arson after being seen setting small fires that were immediately extinguished.