Officials have warned residents across LA against returning to their homes due to the presence of toxic, hazardous waste and exposed power and gas lines, as the battle against the deadly fires in Los Angeles county entered its 10th day.
During a Thursday press conference, Yonah Halpern, principal engineer with LA county public works said that toxins such as asbestos, and mercury could be found in fire debris and that the US Environmental Protection Agency and county fire department would be going house to house to assess and remove hazardous materials at no cost to the property’s owner.
The extreme winds behind the disastrous fires in Los Angeles were forecast to calm the rest of the week into the weekend, making it easier for firefighters to further efforts to put out the massive Palisades and Eaton fires that have been ablaze for over a week.
The National Weather Service said on Thursday that the “nine-day wind siege has finally ended” and the weekend will bring a “significant cooling trend” with higher humidity in the region. But it warned that high winds could pick up again early next week.
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A marine layer was forecast to come into the area on Thursday and Friday bringing with it desperately needed humidity, said James White, the incident meteorologist for the Eaton fire, during a Thursday press conference.
As of Thursday morning, crews were still working to fully contain the two largest fires in Los Angeles. The Palisades fire is 22% contained after burning more than 23,700 acres while the Eaton fire is 55% contained after burning roughly 14,100 acres.
The containment numbers are expected to rise rapidly in the coming days. The flames are no longer raging but scores of firefighters must scour every inch of the expansive fire footprints to ensure spot fires are extinguished and lines hold.
Even after forecasts warned of a “particularly dangerous situation” wind event on Wednesday, firefighters have been able to keep the fires within their footprints over the last few days.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
