Los Angeles faces heightened wildfire threats as forecasters predict Santa Ana winds with gusts up to 160 mph this week. Since January 7, six wildfires have claimed over 27 lives and destroyed 22,000 structures. While calmer skies have aided firefighting efforts, a fire weather watch has been issued for the region. A theory suggests that surges in the power grid may have contributed to the recent fires, causing sparks that ignited dry vegetation. Evacuations are ongoing in affluent areas, with rebuilding costs projected to exceed $150 billion. Celebrities like LeBron James and Paris Hilton have been affected.
Los Angeles is bracing for more devastating wildfires this week as forecasters predict another round of 160 mph wind gusts in Santa Ana.
Since the first fire broke out on January 7, at least six wildfires have killed more than 27 people and destroyed 22,000 buildings.
Calm skies have helped firefighters bring under control several blazes in recent days, including some of the most destructive in the Pacific Palisades.
Evacuees are allowed to return to their homes to retrieve medical supplies and any belongings that may have survived.
But last night, the California Metropolitan Museum of Art issued a “fire weather watch” for most of Los Angeles and surrounding counties from Monday through Wednesday.
“We expect another major event this weekend as Santa Ana winds increase and pose a significant fire risk,” a spokesperson said.
“Winds could gust over 80 mph in some areas, with gusts up to 160 mph. We are at extreme fire danger. Winds will start tonight (Sunday) and peak on Wednesday. is expected to reach.”
There is no chance of much-needed rain in the region, where hundreds of people, including celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Mel Gibson and Billy Crystal, have been left homeless.
Palisades Fire ravages neighborhoods amid high winds in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood
Los Angeles braces for more devastating wildfires this week as forecasters predict another round of Santa Ana gusts
Aerial view of homes destroyed in Palisades fire as wildfires cause damage and loss across Los Angeles
This is the same region where massive wildfires raged this week, and a new theory suggests an alarming spike in faults along Los Angeles’ power grid may have triggered the catastrophic crisis. This is due to the fact that it caused this.
Bob Marshall, CEO of Whisker Labs, a company that monitors power activity, told Fox News that his company saw a spike in outages in the hours before the Eaton, Palisades and Hearst fires.
Marshall said data shows the power did not go out immediately after the fault surged, and was caused by “tree branches touching the power lines, or the wind touching the power lines.” He said it was possible.
“That creates sparks on the fault, and we detect all of them,” Marshall said. Electrical equipment failures, sudden spikes in power demand, or earthquake shaking can also cause surges.
In the hardest-hit Pacific Palisades region, 63 faults occurred in the two to three hours before the fire started, and 18 faults occurred in the hour before the fire started on Tuesday.
Marshall said the Eaton fire near Altadena caused 317 power grid faults in the hours before ignition, and the Hearst fire caused about 230 faults. On a typical day, the company has very low enrollment, he said.
Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the fire, but raise the possibility that a fault in the power grid caused sparks from the fault to ignite dry vegetation, and strong winds carried the embers throughout the area.
This comes as evacuation orders due to the Palisades fire reach the glitzy enclave of Brentwood, where mansions owned by many celebrities are currently at risk of disappearing.
Multiple wildfires sparked by strong Santa Ana winds spread across Los Angeles County
Overhead pole camera image showing areas destroyed by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California on January 14th.
A Volkswagen van sits inside a burnt out home in California on January 9th.
California Task Force 3 Urban Search and Rescue firefighters search the ruins of a Malibu beach house where victims of the Los Angeles fires are reportedly buried
Early projections indicate that rebuilding the devastated Los Angeles area could cost more than $150 billion, according to AccuWeather.
And Aris Papadopoulos, founder of the Resilience Action Fund, told Fortune that given similar disasters, large-scale recovery efforts could take up to 10 years.
As the fire continues to spread, thousands more people are forced to evacuate their homes in the upscale suburbs of Brentwood and Encino, home to celebrities including LeBron James, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kamala Harris. has been done.
According to TMZ, basketball champion LeBron James purchased a luxurious Brentwood pad in 2017 for $23 million.
“I pray this nightmare ends soon!” Lots of prayers,” James tweeted overnight.
