The situation in California It gets worse and worse with the spread of the fires around Los Angeles. Firefighters are battling a series of fires in the city’s suburbs, while tens of thousands of residents are forced to flee.
Los Angeles seeks answers about how fires that started on Tuesday led to an unprecedented catastrophe what 48 hours It has then devastated neighborhoods, leaving at least five dead and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.
California is used to dealing with large fires, but the outbreak of flames in the city of Los Angeles, which have already consumed nearly 12,000 hectares, has generated a lot of noise. So What caused the fires to spread in California?
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The fires have surprised and overwhelmed the city’s firefighters, who at the same time have faced other problems while waiting for reinforcements and an improvement in the weather conditions with which they hope to put them out.
The rapid spread of the fires is mainly due to intense winds of Santa Ana, a natural phenomenon characteristic of this time of year, which, when combined with the droughthas created the ideal scenario for the uncontrolled advance of the flames.
“The Palisades Fire is arguably one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles”assured the head of the Fire Department of the city, Kristin Crowley.
For his part, the county sheriff, Robert G. Luna, said that “in some areas it looks as if a bomb had fallen.”
In Pacific Palisades, a community where more than a thousand homes have burned in the largest of the fires, firefighters saw fire hydrants dry up within hours of starting to use them.
A wrong decision?
It also draws attention the decision made by the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bassof cut in more than 17 million dollars he budget for this year of Fire Department.
Crowley, the fire chief, warned a month ago that the cuts “have severely limited the department’s ability to prepare, train and respond to large-scale emergencies, including wildfires.”
Mayor Bass, however, has defended that The cut has had no impact on the fight against these fires because it was intended to eliminate administrative positions in the department.
President-elect Donald Trump, for his part, has blamed the lack of water for firefighters on the policy of distributing California’s water resources. This, she assured, because she was guided by the protection of a fish in danger of extinction.
AB
