The economic value of wildfires in Los Angeles could be more than $50 billion, after three days of fast-moving fires that have raged tens of thousands of acres and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes.
Local officials yesterday hoped that decreased winds would finally give firefighters a chance to control the blazes. Helicopters and planes dropped water from the sky, and firefighters battled on the ground. Despite the subsiding winds, the risk remained for current fires to spread and for other fires to ignite.
At least five people have died in the firestorms, and the Los Angeles County sheriff said he expected the death toll to rise.
One of the blazes, the Palisades fire, in one of the city’s most affluent areas has damaged or destroyed thousands of buildings and has burned more than 17,200 acres.
The fires have torn through communities of every socioeconomic status and stripe, affecting mansions as well as ’70s townhouses, ranches and subdivisions.
President Biden said that the federal government would pay for 100 percent of the firefighting needs in the area for the next 180 days.
