Strong winds weaken in LA, giving respite to weary firefighters

Firefighters battling two wildfires that have ravaged Los Angeles for nine days may get a reprieve Thursday from the weather.

The strong winds that initially fueled the fire and hampered rescue efforts have subsided significantly.

Progress has been made in containing two large fires burning nearly 40,000 acres.

At least 25 people have died and more than 12,000 homes have been destroyed in the worst fire in living memory to ravage America’s second-largest city.

The largest fires, Eaton and Palisades, are still burning a week later – and firefighting assistance has been requested from Mexico and Canada.

Red flag warnings have been lifted by the National Weather Service (NWS), but they may return in a few days.

There has been “a lot of change tonight and tomorrow, although there have been some concerns,” Ryan Kittell of the NWS told news agency AFP.

Fire warnings remain critical as parts of southern California continue to see high risk despite winds easing and humidity rising, BBC Weather forecaster Paul Goddard said.

No rain forecast for California next week.

Officials are closely monitoring the Santa Ana storm, which is said to be causing the fires. Winds are expected to pick up again early next week, bringing with it a high risk of further red warnings.

Winds can bring gusts of 30-50mph (48-80km/h).

The Palisades fire, too large to burn, has not seen any fire growth as firefighters work to contain the flames, according to Jim Hudson, Cal Fire incident manager.

It has burned 24,000 acres. More than 20% were found on Thursday morning.

“There’s a lot of danger and a lot of heat still inside this fire,” Hudson said at a news conference in Malibu on Wednesday.

Mr. Hudson added that 5,100 people were given the job of cooling the fire.

“As we move forward we will continue to expand our equipment as we feel that it is safe and that safety comes down to not only life and property, but also the size of the fire,” he added.

The 25th death from the fire was confirmed by the LA County Medical Examiner’s Office earlier this week. Several other people are missing.

Most of the victims have died in the Eaton fire, which has burned more than 14,000 acres north of the city. Firefighters have 45% of the fire under control.

Some of those affected by the Eaton fire have now been allowed to return to their homes, but thousands of people are under evacuation orders – which also includes a nightly curfew.

Thousands of homes have been destroyed in one of the costliest natural disasters in American history.

Research on extreme weather from climate scientists at ‘Climameter‘ concluded that the California wildfires have been fueled by climates fueled by human-caused climate change.

The study found that today’s conditions are warmer, drier and warmer than in the past, in areas affected by the fire.