Los Angeles wildfire: Over 30,000 evacuated, Elon Musk blames ‘nonsense’ regulations
More than 30,000 people including Hollywood celebrities left their homes as wildfires tore across Los Angeles (LA) in California on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The flames engulfed the homes and set hillsides ablaze.
At least one firefighter was injured battling a blaze near the upmarket Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, AFP quoted the local media, with reports of several other people having suffered burns.
According to an AP report, the fire erupted on Tuesday near a nature preserve in the inland foothills northeast of LA while another blaze that started hours earlier ripped through the city’s Pacific Palisades neighbourhood.
California governor Gavin Newsom posted on X early Wednesday that the state had deployed more than 1,400 firefighting personnel to combat the blazes. “Emergency officials, firefighters, and first responders are all hands on deck through the night to do everything possible to protect lives,” he said.
Here are the top 10 updates related to the wildfires:-
1. Billionaire Elon Musk blamed “nonsense” regulations in California, saying,”These fires are easily avoidable, but nonsense regulations in California prevent action being taken, so year after year homes burn down and more people die.”
2. According to an AP report, the National Weather Service said it was receiving reports of winds up to 80 mph (129 kph) this morning. They could top 100 mph (160 kph) in mountains and foothills and include areas that haven’t seen substantial rain in months. “Red flag warnings are highlighting extremely critical fire weather conditions. Those include exceptionally dry relative humidity levels,” Peter Mullinax, a meteorologist with the weather service, said.
3. Actor Steve Guttenberg told KTLA television that friends of his were impeded from evacuating because others had abandoned their cars in the road. “It’s really important for everybody to band together and don’t worry about your personal property. Just get out. Get your loved ones and get out,” he added.
4. According to a Reuters report, almost 100 residents from a nursing home in Pasadena were evacuated. Video shared by CBS News showed elderly residents, many in wheelchairs and on gurneys, crowded onto a smoky and windswept parking lot as fire trucks and ambulances attended.
5. Fire officials told Reuters a third blaze named the Hurst Fire had started in Sylmar, in the San Fernando Valley northwest of Los Angeles, prompting evacuations of some nearby residents. The Hurst fire grew to 500 acres (202 hectares) from 100 acres (40 hectares) earlier, according to Cal Fire.
6. According to a Reuters report, firefighting aircraft scooped water from the sea to drop it on the flames as they engulfed homes. Bulldozers cleared abandoned vehicles from roads so emergency vehicles could pass, television images showed.
7. The fire singed some trees on the grounds of the Getty Villa, a museum loaded with priceless works of art, but the collection remained safe largely because nearby bushes had been trimmed as a preventive measure, Reuters quoted the museum as saying.
8. The powerful winds forced a change US President Joe Biden’s travel plans, grounding Air Force One in Los Angeles, Reuters reported. He had planned to make a short flight inland to the Coachella Valley for a ceremony to create two new national monuments in California.
9. Emmy-award-winning actor James Woods posted a video showing flames engulfing trees and bushes near his home as he got ready to evacuate, and said all the fire alarms were going off. “I couldn’t believe our lovely little home in the hills held on this long. It feels like losing a loved one,” AFP quoted Woods as saying.
10. Some firefighters were facing water shortages at hydrants in the Palisades, the Los Angeles Times reported, in a fire that has so far consumed almost 3,000 acres (1,200 hectares).