The destruction caused by the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles is the worst the city has seen in recent history.
The wildfires, which began on 7 January, have torched the US’s second largest city, leaving at least 11 dead and over 10,000 structures destroyed. Roughly 150,000 Los Angeles county residents remain under evacuation orders.
While the region is no stranger to fast-moving wildfires, the multiple blazes enveloping much of the megalopolis are considered one of the worst wildfire events in southern California, according to the California department of forestry and fire protection, or CalFire. In just three days, they have burned roughly twice the size of Manhattan.
Even on their own, the fires are behemoths.
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Palisades, the first and largest fire, is spreading west of Los Angeles. Burning across 21,317 acres, the fire had only been 8% contained as of Friday afternoon, meaning firefighters have created control lines – usually wide trenches – around 8% of it. Officials say initial estimates indicate it has destroyed at least 5,300 structures between the Santa Monica Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Firefighters estimate it’s the third-most destructive wildfire in California’s history.
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The Eaton fire, burning across Pasadena and Altadena areas in the north-east has blazed nearly 14,000 acres and has only been 3% contained. It has so far destroyed 5,000 structures, ranking it as the fourth most destructive wildfire in California’s history.
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The other fires currently burning across Los Angeles include Kenneth, Hurst and Lidia. Kenneth, a brush fire which emerged in the Woodlands Hills area on Thursday, has burned across 1,000 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. As of Friday morning, it has been 35% contained. Meanwhile, the Hurst fire, which is burning across 771 acres across the northernmost suburb of Los Angeles, has been 37% contained as of Friday morning. Over in Antelope Valley, the Lidia fire has burned across 395 acres and is 75% contained as of Friday morning.
California has seen several massive and deadly wildfires in recent years, as the climate crisis makes blazes more frequent, more intense and less predictable. The worst wildfire in California’s history is the Camp fire, which leveled the town of Paradise in November 2018. Eighty-five people lost their lives in the inferno and more than 18,000 structures were destroyed.
The year before, the Tubbs fire raged through Napa and Sonoma counties, destroying 5,600 structures and burning approximately 36,810 acres, costing the state $11.1bn in damages.
Preliminary estimates of the economic loss caused by the Los Angeles wildfires is between $52bn to $57bn, the Los Angeles Times reported on Friday. By comparison, Hurricane Katrina, the tropical cyclone which struck the south-eastern US in 2005, has been ranked as the costliest natural disaster in US history, causing over $158bn in damages.
With the wildfires continuing to blaze, many insurers are considering whether to raise premiums even further across the state.
Douglas Heller, director of insurance at the Consumer Federation of America, toldthe Guardian: “We’ve been paying premiums over the past several years to prepare insurance companies for a catastrophe like this. Whatever they say, they have the resources to pay the claims … Now we have to make sure there’s not a second, financial tragedy that follows the physical catastrophe.”
On Thursday, Joe Biden announced that the federal government would pay for 100% of the fire response cost for 180 days. “It’s going to pay for things like debris and heavy material removal, temporary shelters, first responders, salaries and all necessary measures to protect life and property,” Biden said, adding that he has directed the California governor Gavin Newsom and local officials to “spare no expense to do what they need to do” to fight the fires.
Cecilia Nowell contributed reporting
