A wildfire raged Wednesday in the hills above Los Angeles, destroying dozens of homes and burning nearly 20,000 hectares in 24 hours, one of three uncontrolled fires raging near the second largest city in the United States.
North of the megacity, residents of the towns of Wrightwood and Mt Baldy were ordered to evacuate their homes. At least 33 homes and several cabins were destroyed by the fire, which also burned through a ski resort, according to Los Angeles County Fire Commander Anthony Marrone.
“Our house is going to burn down,” local resident Jenny Alaniz told KTLA radio through tears.
An Agence France-Presse reporter at Wrightwood described burning carcasses of buildings and cars.
The fire, which broke out on Sunday, had devoured 1,600 hectares of land on Tuesday, a figure that had increased tenfold to 19,400 hectares on Wednesday.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said three people, including a member of his squad, were trapped in a remote area near Mt Baldy.
Thick smoke from the fire and blocked roads are hampering rescue efforts.
“Our air rescue team is preparing to hoist them out of there once the smoke clears,” he said, adding that rescuers were also trying to reach them by road in four-wheel drive vehicles.
Southeast of Los Angeles, the so-called “Airport Fire” also continued to rage, and has so far razed more than 8,900 hectares. According to local fire officials, seven people were injured in the blaze that broke out Monday.
In the northeast of the megacity, the “Line Fire” has razed 14,000 hectares. Residents of mountain villages have been asked to evacuate their homes while several roads have been blocked.
These disasters threaten tens of thousands of homes and businesses.
Their progress has been aggravated by the heatwave that has hit the region, with temperatures exceeding 43 degrees in some places in recent days. However, temperatures began to drop on Wednesday.
With global warming, the west of the North American continent is increasingly hit by extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts and fires.