San Diego, CA
California wildfires: New blaze prompts evacuations in San Diego County
California wildfires: Two new wildfires broke in San Diego County in Southern California as powerful Santa Ana winds picked up pace on Tuesday.
Evacuation orders were issued for the Lilac Fire, which had burned about 50 acres (20 hectares), according to the Associated Press.
The fire was growing “with a moderate rate of spread and structures are threatened,” the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection posted.
Firefighters also made progress on the Pala Fire and it was reported as stopped, the agency said.
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The weather service has issued a warning of a “ particularly dangerous situation ” for parts of Los Angeles, Ventura and San Diego counties from Monday afternoon to Tuesday morning due to low humidity and damaging Santa Ana winds.
“The conditions are ripe for explosive fire growth should a fire start,” Andrew Rorke, a meteorologist with the weather service in Oxnard, told AP.
The fresh threat comes two weeks after two major blazes, which are still burning in the Los Angeles area, killed at least 27 people and destroyed more than 10,000 structures in the residential enclaves of Pacific Palisades and Altadena in Los Angeles.
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David Acuna, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said the biggest concerns are the Palisades and Eaton Fires breaking their containment lines and a new blaze starting.
“Don’t do things to start another fire so we can focus on the mitigation of the current fires,” Acuna said.
Kamala Harris visits Los Angeles
Former US Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff flew to Los Angeles on Monday after attending the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
They met with firefighters, volunteers and victims of the Eaton Fire in Altadena.
“We just came out to thank (firefighters), to thank the community and just remind folks that we’re all in this together,” Harris said, according to AP. She added that their home in Pacific Palisades was still standing.
Meanwhile, Trump, who criticized the response to the wildfires during his inaugural address, has said he will travel to Los Angeles on Friday.