Los Angeles Braces for ‘Explosive Fire Growth’ as Forecasters Predict Renewed Santa Ana Winds

Los Angeles is preparing for another week of “explosive fire growth” as strong Santa Ana winds are expected to flare up again and whip across the region in the coming days, the National Weather Service warned Angelenos Sunday.Gusts are predicted to hit up to 65 miles per hour on Monday and peak through Wednesday, bringing the potential to set more neighborhoods ablaze, according to weather officials.“There will be the potential for … explosive fire growth as those winds pick back up,” meteorologist Ariel Cohen told the Los Angeles Times. “In the case of an evacuation order being issued, you have to follow that immediately. Seconds could save your life.”As the flames across the city continue to rise, so too has the number of people arrested for looting homes and businesses amidst the chaos. On Sunday, the Los Angeles sheriff, Robert Luna, confirmed that 29 people have been nabbed for looting, including one man who was caught disguised as a firefighter.“I saw a gentleman who looked like a firefighter, and I asked if he was OK because he was sitting down, and I didn’t realize we had him in handcuffs,” Mr. Luna said, according to CBS News. “We were turning him over to the LAPD because he was dressed like a fireman and was not. He just got caught burglarizing a home.”On Saturday, an LAPD captain, Michael Lorenz, said their agency had also arrested fake first responders. “We even made arrests of two individuals that were actually posing as firefighters coming and in and out of houses, so we’re paying very, very close attention to everybody,” Mr. Lorenz said at a community meeting on Saturday.While a majority of the arrested were related to looting, two people were brought in after they were caught breaking a nighttime curfew imposed on Thursday. The unidentified pair were found milling about near Vice President Harris’ home in the tony enclave of Brentwood in the pre-dawn hours Saturday.The death toll from the series of wildfires has risen to 16, with five of the deaths occurring in locations affected by the Palisades Fire and 11 dead near the Eaton Fire, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office. Officials anticipate that the number will rise in the coming days as cadaver dogs and rescue crews sift through the rubble of thousands of homes in the area.Another 16 people have been reported missing from the areas engulfed by the Palisades and Eaton Fires. Mr. Luna said during a briefing Sunday that “dozens” more reports are expected to come in and that investigators were reconciling whether some of those already reported missing are among the dead.As of Sunday morning, Cal Fire officials reported that the four major fires, Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth, and Hurst, had decimated more than 62 square miles – an area larger than the city of San Francisco. The Palisades and Eaton Fires account for most of that damage, with the fires being 11 percent and 27 percent at each respective location.The ongoing response to the inferno has firefighters from across California working with crews from at least nine other states as well as Canada and Mexico. The unprecedented response includes 1,354 fire engines, over 80 aircraft, and nearly 15,000 individuals.Investigators are still trying to uncover what may have ignited the blaze. Officials now believe the Palisades Fire began behind a home in Pacific Palisades, and late Sunday Los Angeles Times reported that an electrical transmission tower at Eaton Canyon may be ground zero for the Eaton Fire. Photos and videos early in the blaze show flames at the base of the Southern California Edison-owned tower that likely fanned out across the region.

Los Angeles Braces for ‘Explosive Fire Growth’ as Forecasters Predict Renewed Santa Ana Winds

Los Angeles Braces for ‘Explosive Fire Growth’ as Forecasters Predict Renewed Santa Ana Winds

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