SoCal braces for possibly destructive windstorm amid dangerous fire weather – ABC7 Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A windstorm that forecasters described as potentially destructive and life-threatening is impacting a large swath of Southern California, dramatically raising the risk of wildfires for the next several days.Firefighters are battling a fire in the foothills of Pacific Palisades, a Los Angeles coastal neighborhood. Another brush fire erupted in the evening in the Eaton Canyon area near Altadena, prompting mandatory evacuations. Then late Tuesday night, the Hurst Fire erupted in the Sylmar area.Winds are expected to peak in the early hours of Wednesday, when gusts could reach 80 mph, the National Weather Service said. Isolated gusts could top 100 mph in mountains and foothills.Red flag warnings are in effect and will and remain in place until 6 p.m. Thursday for the Malibu coast, the Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area, the San Gabriel Valley, the San Fernando Valley, Calabasas, the Santa Clarita Valley, the San Gabriel Mountains, and the 5 Freeway and 14 Freeway corridors.Track current power outages in the greater Southern California area here.The Eaton Fire exploded to 10,600 acres in the Altadena area on Wednesday morning, continuing to burn out of control after officials said two people were killed in the wildfire.More than 100 structures have been destroyed in the blaze.At a morning news conference, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said the circumstances of the two deaths were not immediately known.Marrone said there were also “a number of significant injuries” due to the fire.Speaking at the briefing, Sheriff Robert Luna said two people were arrested Wednesday morning for looting evacuated homes in the Eaton Fire burn area.The Pacific Palisades fire has burned more than 5,000 acres and has destroyed an estimated 1,000 structures, officials said during a news conference Wednesday.The fire remains 0% contained.Vice President Kamala Harris’ neighborhood in the Brentwood community in the Pacific Palisades was put under an evacuation order Wednesday morning due to the Palisades fire, according to a press secretary from Harris’ office.No one was home at the time.”She and the Second Gentleman are praying for the safety of their fellow Californians, the heroic first responders, and Secret Service personnel,” press secretary Ernie Apreza said in a post on X.Harris and President Joe Biden are closely monitoring the wildfires and are in touch with state and local officials, Apreza added.AIR7 was able to launch Wednesday morning, giving us the first aerial view of multiple wildfires burning across Los Angeles.Shortly after 9:30 a.m., AIR7 was over the Eaton Fire near Altadena and showed several two-story homes burning in a residential neighborhood while others smoldered.Watch the live aerial images in the video player above.
