Wildfires in Southern California, U.S., have killed at least five people, forced some 130,000 to evacuate, and damaged or destroyed more than 2,000 buildings. Numerous fires are raging around Los Angeles county, a region famous for its beaches and Hollywood celebrities. Nearly 30,000 acres (12,140 hectares) have burned in a quickly accelerating fire as of the morning of Jan. 9. “In five minutes, it burned probably a quarter of a mile across Eaton Canyon,” local resident Muffie Alejandro told The New York Times. Experts say the fires intensified due to the Santa Ana winds, also known as the “devil winds,” common at this time of year. The current event has seen wind speeds of nearly 100 miles per hour (160 kilometers per hour), significantly fueling the fires’ spread. In response, the U.S. Storm Prediction Center, in collaboration with the National Weather Service, has issued a warning for extremely critical fire weather conditions. The combination of powerful winds and vegetation dried out by moderate drought and record-high summer temperatures created ideal conditions for wildfire. California’s rainy season typically runs from October to April, but the region hasn’t seen significant rain since May 2024, when 0.15 inches (3.8 millimeters) fell in Los Angeles. Anything over .10 inches (2.54 millimeters) is technically considered significant for the area. The 2024 summer was California’s hottest in 130 years. The record heat and drought conditions followed record rain and flooding in the region just two years earlier. From December 2022 to March 2023 much of the…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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