Uncontrolled wildfires are raging in Los Angeles, which have already killed at least five people. The disaster has destroyed hundreds of homes and forced more than 100,000 people to evacuate. Reuters writes about it, UNN reports.
Details
Strong winds are hampering firefighters' efforts and contributing to the rapid spread of the fire, which started on Tuesday.
Almost 1 million homes were left without electricity.
Residents evacuated in chaos: the roads were overloaded, and some people left their cars to escape on foot.
Five separate fires have been reported in the district, none of which have been contained yet, according to government officials. Two of them have formed a kind of "tick" that has spread to the city.
We are facing a historic natural disaster. The situation is extremely difficult
It is noted that President Joe Biden, while in Los Angeles, together with California Governor Gavin Newsom, visited a fire station in Santa Monica, where he received a briefing on the state of firefighting.
We are doing our best to help people return to normal life. It will be a long way to go
California Governor Gavin Newsom called the disaster a "historic tragedy," noting: "More than 1,000 buildings destroyed, more than 100,000 evacuated, and many lives lost.
Local officials warned that strong winds are likely to continue, complicating the situation.
The Pentagon will send 10 Navy helicopters to help fight the fires in California, according to the department's spokeswoman Sabrina Singh.
Officials expect it to be a military unit from the Navy Sea Hawks based in Southern California that can be equipped to transport water.
Singh also said on Wednesday that the military is ready to provide the California National Guard with four additional modular airborne firefighting systems. They will likely come from other National Guard units in the country.
Recall
Wildfires engulfed the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles, forcing the evacuation of 30,000 people. The fire destroyed more than 1173 hectares of land, threatening 13,000 buildings, including the homes of Hollywood stars.