A red flag fire weather warning in Los Angeles County was extended to Friday as firefighters who faced relentless Santa Ana winds work tirelessly to protect homes from wildfires in Los Angeles County that have burned thousands of acres, destroyed hundreds of structures and led to five deaths.
Winds will slowly diminish, but remain strong, warranting an extension of a red flag warning that had been set to expire Thursday evening. Firefighters have been battling flames since Tuesday morning when the first gusts from a powerful Santa Ana windstorm fanned Palisades Fire flames in the Santa Monica Mountains above coastal Los Angeles County.
Fire crews from around Southern California and beyond responded to at least five more significant fires ignited in the hours and day that followed.
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"This is what our crews train for," said LAFD Capt. Adam Vangerpen. "We're used to keeping long hours. What's keeping us going is there's work to do. There are still homes on fire, there are people being evacuated. We're just at the beginning stages of this. Once the fires are out we have to move into recovery phase. Right now, we're at zero-percent containment."
Winds will gradually diminish Thursday, but only slightly. Winds will peak Thursday evening into early Friday morning. The red flag warning, indicating that any fires that start will spread rapidly, is set to expire at 6 p.m. Friday.
"The winds that we had late Tuesday into Wednesday, those were what the National Weather Service called a Particularly Dangerous Situation," said NBC4 meteorologist Belen De Leon. "We had gusts that reached 90 mph above. This time, it's going to be more of at typical Santa Ana wind event."
The Santa Clarita Valley, Malibu Coast, Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area, Calabasas, Agoura Hills, San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Mountains, San Gabriel Valley and the 5 and 14 freeway corridors are among the areas under the warning.
On Tuesday night, a wind gust of 98 mph was reported in the Saddle Peak area of the Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area. A 97 mph gust was recorded in the eastern San Gabriel Mountains. Several other mountain areas recorded winds topping 80 mph.
The winds are fanning several fires, the largest being a nearly 16,000-acre blaze in Pacific Palisades. Another fire that started Tuesday continues to burn in the Eaton Canyon area above Altadena. Other fires are burning in Sylmar and Acton, in the Antelope Valley north of Los Angeles. A 60-acre fire erupted Wednesday night in the Hollywood Hills near Runyon Canyon, west of the 101 Freeway and famed Hollywood Bowl.
Hundreds of structures were damaged or destroyed. More than 1,000 structures believed to have been lost in the Palisades Fire, and another 1,000 in the Eaton Fire.
NWS forecasters said the windstorm was the worst to hit the region since 2011. Firefighters have called the weather conditions some of the most dangerous they've ever seen.
President Joe Biden approved a Major Disaster declaration for the state on Wednesday in response to the fires. Biden canceled an upcoming trip to Italy so he could ``remain focused on directing the full federal response in the days ahead,'' according to the White House.
