California fires live: five killed and landmarks threatened as flames spread to Hollywood Hills | Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Times has described the city of Los Angeles as having faced “a two-day nightmare”, and said people need to be prepared for more days of fire weather.

In its latest report, it wrote:

Unlike the catastrophic conditions on Tuesday night, where gusts of up to 100mph (160kph) were recorded, on Wednesday night, aircraft were able to make water drops.

Officials urged people to still be vigilant. By Thursday afternoon, winds are expected to bump back up along the region’s Santa Ana wind corridors, with gusts from the northeast of up to 40mph (65kph), and isolated gusts of up to 70mph (110kph).

Winds should peak Thursday evening into early Friday morning, the weather service said. The weather service warned that foothills facing the south could face erratic winds, “which may lead to chaotic fire growth.”

Here is the latest map from our interactive team showing where evacuation orders and evacuation warnings have been in place around the five major wildfires that are burning around Los Angeles in California.

The New York Times has spoken to a couple who had to flee fires this week twice. Rob Sherman and Cecilia Peck initially fled their home in the Highlands area of Pacific Palisades on Tuesday, to go and stay with friends, only to be evacuated again from that neighborhood west of Pasadena the following day.

Sherman told the newspaper “If it weren’t so serious, I would have thought it was kind of funny. But it is so serious. It’s all happening against a backdrop of life and death.”

This clip of aerial footage shows the Sunset fire sweeping across Hollywood Hills in California.

NBC News reports that all schools in Los Angeles County will remain closed for in-person teaching today. UCLA has moved undergraduate classes online. Authorities yesterday said that three schools in the Palisades had suffered significant damage during the fire.

California fires: what we know so far …

Eric Holthaus, an American meteorologist and climate journalist, writes for the Guardian today, arguing that the Los Angeles wildfires are climate disasters compounded:

The ingredients for these infernos in the Los Angeles area, near-hurricane strength winds and drought, foretell an emerging era of compound events – simultaneous types of historic weather conditions, happening at unusual times of the year, resulting in situations that overwhelm our ability to respond.

These fires are a watershed moment, not just for residents of LA, but emblematic of a new era of complex, compound climate disaster. Conditions for a January firestorm in Los Angeles have never existed in all of known history, until they now do.

The greenhouse gases humans continue to emit are fueling the climate crisis and making big fires more common in California. As the atmosphere warms, hotter air evaporates water and can intensify drought more quickly.

Melting Arctic ice creates changes in the jetstream’s behavior that make wind-driven large wildfires in California more likely. Recent studies have found that Santa Ana wind events could get less frequent but perhaps more intense in the winter months due to the climate crisis.

The more complicated answer is that these fires are an especially acute example of something climate scientists have been warning about for decades: compound climate disasters that, when they occur simultaneously, produce much more damage than they would individually.

You can read more from Eric Holthaus here: The Los Angeles wildfires are climate disasters compounded

Some more detail on the emergency curfew order imposed in Santa Monica as the city deals with the impacts of the Palisades fire.

In a statement mayor Lana Negrete said:

The Palisades fire is currently impacting neighborhoods in the northern part of Santa Monica, with approximately 2,472 households under a mandatory evacuation order, and 8,338 under a voluntary evacuation warning. This emergency order further assists our first responders and further protects residents as we weather this regional crisis and, ultimately, begin and support recovery efforts.

City manager David White, who signed the order late on Wednesday, said:

Our first responders are out patrolling, staying vigilant and coordinating with our partners throughout this emergency on all fronts. The order helps us ensure nobody enters impacted areas who is not supposed to, particularly those with nefarious intentions attempting to take advantage of the mandatory evacuations.

This satellite image shows a view of burning homes during the Eaton fire in Altadena, California

On its incidents page, CAL Fire is giving these latest figures for the five major wildfires in California:

• Palisades fire, 17,234 acres, 0% containment

• Eaton fire, 10,600 acres, 0% containment

• Hurst fire, 855 acres, 10% containment

• Lidia fire, 348 acres, 40% containment

• Sunset fire, 43 acres, 0% containment

On top of that updated forecast from the US National Weather Service, one of its meteorologists, Ariel Cohen, has spoken to CNN, telling the news network:

Just because we’re not seeing the same strength of winds as we saw last night, I urge everyone to remain at a high state of vigilance, as we still have these fires growing and we still have the winds to create the rapid spread.

The US National Weather Service has issued an updated forecast, which includes this information on California:

There is a critical risk of fire weather over parts of Southern California on Thursday. Strong high pressure over parts of the Northern Intermountain Region and Great Basin will set up Santa Ana winds over Southern California. Therefore, the SPC has issued a critical risk of fire weather over parts of Southern California. Winds of 20 to 40mph, with stronger winds in the terrain, low relative humidity, and dry fuels have contributed to the dangerous conditions.

Yesterday the Guardian published this explainer on what Santa Ana winds are, and how they increase wildfire danger …