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PARADISE, Calif. – Forest fires ignited fires across California on Friday, killing at least nine people in a mountain town and forcing residents to flee the seaside town of Malibu in the face of a storm monster.
The nine victims were found in and around the city of Paradise, in northern California, where more than 6,700 homes and businesses were set on fire by the camp's fire, making it one of the worst. one of the most destructive in the state's history, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The data.
"This event was the worst case scenario – it's the event we've been dreading for a long time," said Butte County Sheriff, Kory Honea, at a press conference held on Friday. evening. "Unfortunately, not everyone understood."
The remains of five of the victims were discovered in or near burned cars, three residences outside and one inside a house, Honea said.
Thirty-five more were reported missing and three firefighters were reportedly injured.
The flames fell on paradise so quickly that many people were forced to abandon their cars and save their lives by the only way to the mountain town.
A school bus was among several abandoned vehicles, blackened by flames on a road.
The camp fire, which erupted on Thursday at the edge of the Plumas National Forest, northeast of Sacramento, has since blackened over 90,000 hectares and has been under control only at 5. % at nightfall, Friday.
A total of 6,453 homes were destroyed in Paradise and elsewhere, said Honea, as well as 260 commercial buildings. The Tubbs Fire, which destroyed 5,636 buildings in Napa and Sonoma Counties in October 2017, is rated by Cal Fire as the most destructive of the state's history.
THE FIRE BURNS TO MALIBU
In Malibu, about 800 km to the south, the flames of the hot Santa Ana gales blowing at 80 km / h rushed down hills and canyons to multi-million dollar homes.
Thousands of residents have traveled the Pacific Coast Highway south or have taken refuge on the beaches, accompanied by their horses and other pets.
Among those forced to flee the Woolsey fire, which burned some 14,000 hectares on Friday afternoon, were figures such as Lady Gaga and Kim Kardashian, who reported on Twitter that the flames had damaged the house. She shares in the nearby town of Calabasas with Kanye West.
"The fire is becoming uncontrollable and is heading to populated areas of Malibu," the city said in an online statement. "All residents must evacuate immediately."
Malibu and Calabasas, to the west of Los Angeles, are home to hundreds of celebrities and entertainment executives drawn to the ocean, hills and vast isolated areas.
The fire, which has spewed thick black smoke and thick, has also threatened part of the nearby town of Thousand Oaks, where an armed man killed 12 people earlier this week in a gunfire in a bar. university, surprising the bucolic community of renowned Southern California. For the safety.
The Woolsey fire erupted on Thursday and quickly crossed the 101 Freeway at several locations. On Friday, he climbed the mountains of Santa Monica towards Malibu.
The authorities were forced to close 101, a major north-south thoroughfare, as well as the Pacific Coast Highway. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby said that a "significant number" of houses had been destroyed by the flames but that an accurate count could not be made yet.
Elsewhere, the hill fire in Ventura County's Santa Rosa Valley had charred about 2,000 hectares (2,428 hectares) from Friday night, according to Cal Fire.
In Los Angeles, another smaller fire at Griffith Park forced the Los Angeles Zoo to evacuate a number of exhibition birds and small primates on Friday, with flames falling within 3 km of the establishment, zoo officials said in a statement. declaration.
(Report by Stephen Lam, Andrew Hay, Bernie Woodall and Gina Cherelus, Alex Dobuzinskis and Dan Whitcomb, written by Dan Whitcomb, edited by Nick Macfie)
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