California wildfire containment numbers rise as winds become issue again
While Southern California wildfires are burning out of control, containment numbers have risen, with the Palisades and Eaton blazes at 11 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively.
As the toll from the Southern California wildfires continues to grow, there is some positive news coming out of the fire-stricken region.
The monumental effort from firefighters, including those from Canada, battling multiple wildfires in the past several days have finally shown some progressive effort in containment. On Saturday morning, it was reported that the two largest blazes––the Palisades and Eaton fires––have seen 11 per cent and 15 per cent containments, respectively.
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Both wildfires had zero per cent containment levels before Friday.
As well, the Kenneth and Hurst wildfires are now 90 per cent and 76 per cent contained, respectively, as of Sunday morning.
However, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday morning that the Palisades fire was shifting to a new direction, forcing another evacuation order as it pushed towards the Brentwood neighbourhood and the San Fernando Valley foothills.
Six ongoing wildfires have caused immense destruction in Los Angeles County, Calif. neighbourhoods since Tuesday, killed at least 16 people, and damaged or destroyed more than 12,000 structures to date. At least 13 people are estimated to be missing. As well, at least 15,000 hectares have been burned so far and more than 150,000 people have been evacuated.
The damage is expected to climb once it becomes safe enough for firefighters to conduct house-to-house searches.
While the containment progress is good news, the winds are expected to intensify once again on Sunday, potentially putting a halt on containment efforts as the fires could expand.
By Sunday morning, the gusts could reach as high as 80 km/h. They won't be as strong as they have been in recent days, but will be high enough to impact firefighting efforts.
Winds are expected to remain blustery through Tuesday, and gust as high as 90 km/h early this week, as the Santa Ana winds increase to levels not seen since last Wednesday.
As well, Southern California is in the midst of a significant precipitation deficit. The last reported shower in the Los Angeles area was Dec. 27 while the most-recent, accumulating rainfall was May 5. There is a shortage of about 100 mm of precipitation.
With files from Reuters, Tyler Hamilton, a meteorologist at The Weather Network, and Nathan Howes, a digital journalist at The Weather Network.
Thumbnail courtesy of REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton.
