IN PHOTOS: The wrath of the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles
Los Angeles is facing a series of devastating wildfires, one of the worst and "costliest" in the city's history. These wildfires, fueled by strong winds and dry conditions, have led to widespread evacuations and significant destruction.
The most destructive fire, the Palisades Fire, has burned over 19,978 acres and destroyed over 1,000 structures, primarily in Pacific Palisades where home values exceed $3 million. Celebrities like Leighton Meester and Adam Brody, Mandy Moore, and Paris Hilton have lost their homes to the fire.
Iconic landmarks in the city such as The Getty Villa, Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, and Theatre Palisades have also been reduced to rubble and ash by the fire.
Other active fires include the Eaton Fire, raging across 13,690 acres, and the Hurst (855 acres), Kenneth (960 acres), and Lidia Fires (398 acres).
The human and economic toll of these fires is substantial. At least ten fatalities have been reported, and it is expected to change once it is safe to conduct house-to-house searches, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
"It looks like an atomic bomb dropped in these areas. I don't expect good news, and we're not looking forward to those numbers," Luna said.
Authorities reported that nearly 180,000 people have been ordered to evacuate, with an additional 200,000 facing evacuation warnings.
Meanwhile, the destruction caused by the fires will have a significant and long-lasting impact on the region. The combined toll of the Palisades and Eaton fires includes the damage or destruction of over 9,000 structures.
The economic impact is estimated to exceed $50 billion, financial services firm JPMorgan said.
“The fires have not been contained thus far and continue to spread, implying that estimates of potential economic and insured losses are likely to increase,” JPMorgan analyst Jimmy Bhullar said in a research note.
The National Weather Service has issued a warning that while the red flag warning expires Friday night (US time), offshore winds will persist into early next week, with peak gusts expected on Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
“This has the potential to be, at least collectively, the costliest wildfire disaster in American history,” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said Wednesday. “Even just the Palisades fire on its own may become so.”
Mayor Karen Bass has vowed to "rebuild the city of Los Angeles."
"This is going to be an effort of all of us coming together, and we have to resist any effort to pull us apart," she said during her first press conference after returning from Ghana.
