Los Angeles wildfires: City battles 'largest fire in history'

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Los Angeles wildfires: City battles 'largest fire in history'
1 hour ago



Hundreds of Los Angeles residents have been allowed to return home, as the largest wildfires in the city's history appear to be easing.

The fires, covering about 5,000 acres, started in La Tuna Canyon on Friday, triggering a state of emergency.
"We've turned the corner, but this is not over," Mayor Eric Garcetti said on Sunday as he warned of "strong" winds.

At least three homes have been destroyed and four people are reported to have been injured.
The evacuations around the Glendale and Burbank suburbs were lifted on Sunday as rain and cooler temperatures helped firefighters to tackle the blaze, the Los Angeles Fire Department tweeted.

But Mr Garcetti, who earlier described the blaze as "the largest fire in the history of LA city in terms of its acreage", told reporters on Sunday that the situation remained dangerous.

"We do not have this fire contained," Mr Garcetti said, adding: "But we do have a good sense of, in the next day or two, how we can bring this fire to rest."

He said four firefighters had suffered dehydration or minor burns.

Mr Garcetti declared an emergency on Saturday night and a further emergency order was made by California Governor Jerry Brown on Sunday.

The declarations allowed state and federal funds to be provided as soon as possible.
California has been in the grip of a heatwave and strong winds have helped to fan the flames of the Los Angeles wildfire.

Major fires are also affecting other areas of the western US.

The government has already declared states of emergency in Montana and Washington state and thousands of residents there have been evacuated.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41143987

[Fractal]

Los Angeles is like my backyard, I have relatives in every county and every zip code of Southern California. Don't worry about my territory Greek lady.

[♥ Lily ♥]

This makes me feel sad... Americans haven't had much luck with the very bad weather there recently... first a fierce hurricane... and now terrifying fires. It's not just human lives which are at stake.... people forget that lots of wildlife and birds lives matter too.