Los Angeles (USA), Jan 23 ().- The Hughes fire, the most virulent of a wave of fires that has devastated Los Angeles County for two weeks, continues its fierce advance this Thursday, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents in the midst of an alert for strong winds that threaten to complicate containment efforts.
Firefighters, with the support of planes and excavators, fought last night “against the extreme behavior of the fire, the terrain and the weather,” the Los Angeles National Forest, one of the areas affected by the flames, reported in a statement.
The authorities are working around the clock to establish and maintain lines of control from all sides, although so far it has only been possible to contain it to 14%.
Of particular concern is the violent advance of this fire, which in less than two hours devastated an area of 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres), and in less than 24 hours it reached more than 4,000 charred hectares, according to the latest data issued by the Los Angeles Fire Department (CalFire).
Firefighters are also working on a new active outbreak that broke out this Thursday in the Sepúlveda Pass, northwest of Los Angeles, managing to contain its advance and lifting evacuation notices, according to the latest reports.
More than 4,000 firefighters are collaborating in the tasks of extinguishing these fires, of which other very extensive fires are still not completely contained, such as the Palisades fire, which has devastated some 9,500 hectares, and the Eaton fire, with more than 5,600 hectares.
The alert for strong winds and low humidity “will maintain critical weather conditions in Southern California until Friday morning,” the National Weather Service (NWS) said.
The forecast of possible rain that may occur in southwest California starting next year could give a respite to Los Angeles after more than two weeks of battle against these devastating fires.
Since they began on January 7, the fires have claimed the lives of 28 people and destroyed more than 15,000 structures. They have also forced the evacuation of more than 150,000 people and will go down in US history as one of the most costly natural disasters.
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