Dangerously high winds were expected to resume on Monday in Los Angeles, potentially hampering efforts to extinguish two stubborn wildfires that have leveled whole neighborhoods and claimed the lives of at least two dozen people.
Dry Santa Ana winds of up to 50 to 70 miles per hour (80 to 112 kph) were forecast to resume on Monday and persist through Wednesday, the National Weather Service said in issuing a “particularly dangerous situation” red flag warning.
In anticipation, California Governor Gavin Newsom said over the weekend that the state was pre-positioning firefighting in vulnerable areas including those around the Palisades and Eaton fires, the two largest blazes that have ignited in Southern California.
At least 24 people have died in the fires that began last Tuesday. The blazes have reduced whole neighborhoods to smoldering ruins, leaving an apocalyptic landscape. Officials said at least 12,300 structures have been damaged or destroyed.
Newsom said the firestorm could rank as the most devastating natural disaster in U.S. history, one that has destroyed thousands of homes and forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate.
Private forecaster AccuWeather has estimated the damage and economic loss at $135 billion to $150 billion.
The return of high winds threatens the hard-won progress that crews have made in containing the fires.
Over the weekend, aerial and land-based firefighters managed to stop the Palisades Fire as it encroached on the upscale Brentwood section and advanced toward the populous San Fernando Valley in the north.
That fire on the western side of the metropolis has consumed 23,713 acres (96 sq km) or 37 square miles and stood at 14% contained, a figure representing the percentage of the fire’s perimeter that firefighters have under control.
