A fresh wildfire ignited near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library outside Los Angeles on Wednesday as extraordinarily dry, prolonged Santa Ana winds whipped through the region, forcing meteorologists to grasp for new language to warn of the danger.
The fire broke out in Ventura County’s Simi Valley, just a few kilometres from a growing blaze that has been consuming the shrub-covered hills near the Getty Centre museum in Los Angeles for two days, displacing thousands of residents from some of the area’s priciest neighbourhoods.
For firefighters, the weather forecast could not be worse: The National Weather Service issued an unprecedented “extreme red flag” warning for wildfires in Los Angeles and Ventura counties ahead of two days of intense dry wind gusts.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen us use this warning,” said forecaster Marc Chenard. “It’s pretty bad.”
Statewide, the weather service issued warnings of dangerous fire weather conditions covering more than 88,000sqkm, encompassing some 21 million people. Scientists have linked an increase in frequency and intensity of wildfires to climate change.
The Easy Fire in Simi Valley ignited just before dawn and quickly grew to 972 acres as it was fanned westward by Santa Ana winds, according to the Ventura County fire department. A long wall of orange flames and thick, grey smoke could be seen just down the slope from the hilltop Reagan Library, which houses many of the former President’s records and the plane he used for official travel. At least two helicopters dropped water on the flames.
County fire officials ordered residents to evacuate the area around the library, which includes a number of sprawling ranch properties. Residents in masks coaxed nervy horses into trailers to drive them to safety.
A number of structures in the area were ablaze, according to video broadcast by local television station ABC7 News.
A few employees remained at the library, which has fire doors and sprinklers, spokesperson Melissa Giller told ABC7 News. The library has trucked in goats in years past to eat away flammable scrub around the building’s perimeter.
The Santa Ana winds are a regional weather phenomenon that sends gusts westward off the desert out to the Southern California coast. They are forecast to reach sustained speeds of 80 to 110kmph on Wednesday and Thursday, raising the risk of sparks and embers being whipped into fresh wildfires in unburned areas.
Los Angeles fire chief Ralph Terrazas said extremely high winds could also force the grounding of water-dropping helicopters, a vital component of the firefighting arsenal.
City arson investigators say the Getty fire was likely caused by a broken tree branch being blown into power lines during high winds on Monday morning. It continued to grow in size, consuming 745 acres by Wednesday morning, with about a quarter contained by firefighters. At least 12 homes have been destroyed.
Electricity remained cut off to roughly half a million homes and businesses in Northern and Central California on Tuesday as a precaution by the state’s largest utility.
California governor Gavin Newsom has accused utilities of failing to adequately modernise and safely maintain their power systems.
