Winds ease in S. California

Toll of wildfires comes into focus after days of destruction

Brutal winds that fueled southern California wildfires finally began to ease Saturday, giving people hope for a respite as the destructive toll of the blazes came into focus.

After a five-day siege, some Californians were finally able to return home to inspect the damage wrought by the wildfires, which forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee and destroyed more than 850 structures including multimillion dollar mansions.

Despite the intensity of the fires that raged on multiple different fronts – stretching from areas north of Los Angeles down to the San Diego region – authorities have reported only one fatality.

With gusts of up to 95 kilometers per hour, relentless seasonal winds had continued to stoke the fires Friday, spitting embers and creating “extreme fire danger”.

“There are still tons and tons of hot spots out there,” Captain Jon Heggie of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said early Saturday.

A “red flag” warning issued by the National Weather Service was in effect until 8:00 pm Sunday California time.

The strongest winds are expected in the San Diego County mountains and foothills, the NWS predicted.

Winds were expected to calm somewhat but a red alert was extended into Sunday due to expected low humidity.

And despite the easing of the winds, meteorologists warned that smoke and ash could linger, prompting several counties to maintain air-quality warnings.

In the mountain town of Ojai the air-quality index was hovering over 500 – at the top of the “hazardous” scale – as fumes from the “Thomas” fire hung trapped by the mountains.

Since erupting in Ventura County late Monday, that blaze has seared 60,000 hectares and destroyed over 500 structures, but an area fire department spokesperson said Saturday containment should improve “after aggressive fire fighting” the day prior.

Governor Jerry Brown said many scientists believe more extreme fire seasons are part of the pinch of climate change.

“This is kind of the new normal. We’re facing a new reality in this state where fire threatens people’s lives, their property, their neighborhoods,” Brown said at a fairgrounds briefing.

“We know from changing climate that [ fires] are going to exacerbate everything else [and] in the longer term, I think we have to think through how we are going to adjust ourselves to nature as it changes,” Brown said, his approach a stark contrast to that of US President Donald Trump, a doubter of climate change.