Raging wildfires surrounded Los Angeles, killing at least five people, destroying hundreds of homes and stretching firefighting resources and water supplies to the limit, as more than 100,000 people were ordered to evacuate.  Hurricane-force winds hindered firefighting operations and spread the fires, which have burned unimpeded since they began on Tuesday.  But instead of packing hurricane-like humidity, the dry wind fanned the flames over already parched terrain, and the two most dangerous fires continued to grow as the sun set on Wednesday, officials said. 

A new fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills section of Los Angeles on Wednesday evening, Fire Chief Kristin Crowley told a press conference, forcing more evacuations and raising to six the number of wildfires burning in Los Angeles County.  All of them were 0% contained according to state officials, including a pair of conflagrations that held the city in a pincer move.  On the west side, the Palisades Fire consumed 15,832 acres (6,406 hectares) and 1,000 structures in the hills between Santa Monica and Malibu, racing down Topanga Canyon until reaching the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday.

It was already one of the most destructive fires in Los Angeles history.  Aerial video by KTLA television showed block after block of smoldering homes in Pacific Palisades, the smoky grid occasionally punctuated by the orange blaze of another home still on fire.  To the east, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, the Eaton Fire claimed another 10,600 acres (4,289 hectares), another 1,000 structures, and killed at least five people, officials said. Private forecaster AccuWeather estimated initial damage and economic loss at more than $50 billion.  "We're facing a historic natural disaster.

And I think that can't be stated strong enough," Kevin McGowan, director of emergency management for Los Angeles County, told a press conference.  Even though forecasters said winds would subside on Wednesday night, so-called red flag conditions were expected to remain until Friday.  Nearly 1 million homes and businesses lost power in Los Angeles County, according to PowerOutage.us. School was canceled throughout Los Angeles County at least through Thursday, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said.  "The wind whipped up, the flames were up about 30 or 40 feet (9 to 12 meters) high, and you hear 'pop, pop, pop'.

It sounded like a warzone," Kevin Williams, an Eaton Fire evacuee, told Reuters at an evacuation center in Pasadena, describing gas canisters at his neighbors' homes that began exploding under the heat of the flames. Besides the two major fires, four smaller fires in the county stretched firefighting resources that had already been exhausted.  "There are not enough firefighters in L.A. County to address four separate fires of this magnitude," said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone.  Firefighters from six other states were being rushed to California, while an additional 250 engine companies with 1,000 personnel were being moved from Northern California to Southern California, Marrone said in a later press conference. 

Water shortages caused some hydrants to run dry in upscale Pacific Palisades, officials said.  "We pushed the system to the extreme. We're fighting a wildfire with urban water systems, and that is really challenging," Janisse Quinones, chief executive of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, told a press conference.  Pacific Palisades relies on three tanks that hold about a million gallons (3.78 million liters) each, and the demand for water to fight fires at lower elevations was making it difficult to refill water tanks at higher elevations, she said. 

By Wednesday afternoon, all three of those tanks and all 114 reservoirs throughout the city were refilled, Quinones said in a later press conference.  Nestled in the hills with spectacular ocean views, Pacific Palisades is one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the country with a typical home valued at $3.7 million as of the end of 2023, according to Zillow, more than all but four other zip codes in the United States.  It is also home to many film, television and music stars including Jamie Lee Curtis, Mandy Moore and Mark Hamill, all forced to flee their homes.  With the so-called Sunset Fire burning 10 acres in Hollywood Hills late on Wednesday, the L.A.

fire department issued an evacuation order for people in an area within Hollywood Boulevard on the south, Mulholland Drive on the north, the 101 Freeway on the east and Laurel Canyon Boulevard on west - all iconic addresses for people in the entertainment industry.  The fires struck at an especially vulnerable time for Southern California, which has yet to see significant rainfall since the start of the water year in October.  Then came the powerful Santa Ana winds, bringing dry desert air from the east toward the coastal mountains, fanning the flames of the wildfires while blowing over the hilltops and down through the canyons.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)