What to Know About the Los Angeles Fires

On Tuesday, January 7, a fire started in the Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, California, around 10:30 a.m. local time. After that, a series of other fires broke out, causing at least 16 deaths and the destruction of about 12,000 homes and businesses. Thousands of people have been evacuated, and others are waiting on standby with the possibility of having to leave their homes should the wildfires get too close to them.

As of Friday, January 11, about 56 square miles had burned—an area that is larger than the city of San Francisco. Although wildfires aren’t unusual California, they are not as common this time of year, and if they do happen during the winter, the cause is usually lightning strikes, of which there were none reported at the time. Most fires are in the wilderness, but these are in urban areas, making them much more costly and dangerous. Thousands of people have lost their homes, including Hollywood stars such as Mel Gibson, Billy Crystal, Jennifer Grey, Paris Hilton, Rosie O’Donnell, and many others.

Schools and nature areas have been destroyed. “The fires have torn through natural areas that served every type of educational setting: public and private schools, nature-based preschools, homeschool groups, summer camps and more,” AP reported. Thick smoke and ash make it impossible for some students to attend school and on Friday, all schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, which is the second largest in the nation, were closed due to the air quality.  Last week, the California Department of Education said in a statement that 335 schools from Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernadino, San Diego, and Ventura counties were closed.

Firefighters battled the flames both on the ground using large water hoses and from the air with helicopters that dump water over the fires, but they are having to fight against more than just the wildfires.

While it is unknown what started the fires, the Santa Ana winds are being blamed for spreading them so quickly. The Santa Ana winds are “an annual phenomenon in Southern California, when very dry, high-pressure air gets trapped in the Great Basin and begins escaping westward through mountain passes to lower-pressure areas along the coast,” Heatmap explained. “Most of the time, the wind in Los Angeles blows eastward from the ocean, but during a Santa Ana event, it changes direction, picking up speed as it rushes toward the sea.”

The southern part of the state is suffering from an extreme drought and has not had any significant rainfall in eight months. Los Angeles has had less than an inch of rain since July, making the vegetation dry and flammable.

Adding to the troubles, a 117-million-gallon reservoir was out of service and many of the water hydrants were dry. The city is also experiencing a shortage of firefighters.

AccuWeather estimates the damage so far to be between $135 billion to $150 billion, which would make these fires the most expensive in the nation.

1. There are currently several fires in the Los Angeles area.

2. Southern California is suffering from an extreme drought. No significant rain has occurred in 8 months.

3. One of the state’s reservoirs isn’t working, and many hydrants are empty.