Los Angeles wildfires have continued their trail of devastation, razing death tolls to 24 and destroying thousands of structures, while intensifying winds are worsening the situation for both civilians and firefighters.
In an update on Sunday evening, the County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner said a total of 24 people have died due to the wildfires.
According to the examiner, this number is only an estimate as hundreds of people in various parts of the county are still missing.
Weather forecasters in California are also warning fierce winds which fuelled the infernos around Los Angeles are expected to pick up again this week.
The notoriously dry Santa Ana winds would pick up again from Sunday night until Wednesday, reaching speeds of up to 96km/h, they said.
The most dangerous day will be Tuesday, said weather service meteorologist Rich Thompson. “You are going to have really strong gusty Santa Ana winds, a very dry atmosphere and still very dry brush, so we still have some very critical fire weather conditions out there,” he added.
On Saturday, the flames spread east, creeping closer to Interstate 405 and a busy mountain pass. This is a “significant development,” said L.A. County spokesman Jesus Ruiz.
With the fire rapidly growing and moving in the direction of “a heavily populated area … we are definitely concerned,” he continued.
Gavin Newsom, governor of California said that he believes that in terms of costs associated with the wildfire, it will be the worst natural disaster in terms scale and scope in the history of the US, and the fatalities is likely to increase significantly as well.
On Sunday, private forecaster Accuweather increased its preliminary estimate of financial losses from the blazes to between $250 billion to $275 billion. The wildfires are on track to be among the costliest in US history.
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