Southern California is facing a major challenge in overcoming the crisis caused by massive wildfires that have ravaged the area, causing significant damage with entire neighborhoods burned down. The death toll has reached 11 so far.
According to fire services, some fire outbreaks have been brought under control, but others have flared up elsewhere. Amid the chaos, several residents of Los Angeles have started returning to their neighborhoods in a desperate attempt to save what they can, while the threat from new fire outbreaks remains unabated.
Residents of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood returned to their burned homes with anxiety about the future. They criticized the authorities’ response to the crisis and the lack of water.
“All my friends have lost their homes, but at least they’re alive, because some of them, as you know, have lost their lives. Our whole city is grieving,” said Mia Ruhman, a Los Angeles resident.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. All these people here have lost their homes. It’s not easy to cope with this situation,” said Taylor Gelbrich, a Los Angeles resident.
The Hassett family watched their home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood burn down on TV.
They’ve lived in the area for 22 years. Jackie Hassett and her daughter Kate say they never imagined such a disaster of this magnitude would happen.
“This is something we never expected because of where we are; this was the safe part of the area. There have been no floods, and it wasn’t considered a fire-prone zone, so we never expected what happened,” said Jackie Hassett, a Los Angeles resident.
Makas Dasigenis, a resident of the Altadena neighborhood, fought hard against the flames to save his home. Initially, the 69-year-old and his wife were evacuated, but later he decided to return to protect their property.
“I left initially, but when I saw the news and realized the fires were out of control, I decided to come back. When I arrived, I found no one, and it was a frightening sight to see. The houses and businesses around were burning,” he recalled.
Experts say several factors contributed to the situation getting out of control.
“This is a catastrophic situation, and several factors contributed to it. We had an exceptionally wet winter in 2023, which created favorable conditions for vegetation in the area to grow quickly. Since May of last year, we’ve had no rainfall, so this vegetation dried out and was not cleared. Also, the winds were very strong and helped spread the flames,” said Edith De Guzman from the University of California.
The fires, among the most severe natural disasters to ever hit California, have burned over 12,000 buildings. Authorities are continuing their investigations to determine their cause.
