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Previously unaffected neighborhoods in Los Angeles came under threat on Saturday as the city’s largest fire spread aggressively, forcing more evacuations and extinguishing hopes that containment was within reach.
The city has been plunged into chaos as a series of fires, raging uncontrollably since Tuesday, claimed at least 11 lives and decimated entire residential neighborhoods. Thousands of homes have been reduced to ashes, prompting US President Joe Biden to describe the devastation as resembling a “war scene,” capturing the harrowing scale of destruction.
The Palisades fire, despite the tireless efforts of firefighting teams, continued its relentless spread, prompting mandatory evacuations in upscale neighborhoods along its eastern perimeter. The situation became even more dire as the famous Getty Center art museum found itself within the fire’s potential path.
Forecasters warned of increasing winds set to return on Saturday after a temporary reprieve, heightening the danger of fresh outbreaks as smoldering embers could ignite the parched vegetation nearby.
Read also: 3.7-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes California Amid Wildfires
Amid the devastation, residents of Los Angeles have grown increasingly vocal, demanding accountability for the disaster. As they navigate the wreckage of their lives, frustration mounts over perceived shortcomings in officials’ preparedness and response to the unfolding crisis.
Residents like Nicole Perri, whose home in the upscale Pacific Palisades burnt down, told AFP that officials “completely let us down.”
“I don’t think the officials were prepared at all,” said James Brown, a 65-year-old retired lawyer across the city in Altadena.
California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered a “full independent review” on Friday, describing the lack of water supplies during the initial fires as “deeply troubling.”
“We need answers to how that happened,” he wrote in an open letter.
As reports of looting grew, a sunset-to-sunrise curfew was imposed in evacuated areas.
Around two dozen arrests have already been made across Los Angeles, where some residents have organized street patrols and kept armed watch over their own houses.