Heavy fire in California destroys numerous houses: "It breaks your heart"
Created: 05/12/2022, 16:54
By: Patrick Huljina
A severe forest fire broke out in southern California on Wednesday evening (local time).
Hundreds of residents had to leave their homes.
Los Angeles - magnificent buildings, pools, palm trees - and meter-high flames.
The sight is frightening.
In the south of the US state of California, a fire has destroyed several houses, including some villas worth millions, according to media reports.
A bushfire has broken out near the Orange County townships of Laguna Niguel and Laguna Beach, authorities said on Wednesday evening (May 11).
California: Heavy fire destroys numerous houses
The flames were fanned by strong Pacific winds and spread quickly.
By evening, the fire had destroyed about 20 homes, Orange County Fire Department chief Brian Fennessy said.
The US broadcaster
CBS News
reported that at least five multi-million dollar villas with sea views had burned down .
The cause of the fire, which broke out near a water treatment plant, initially remained unclear.
"The vegetation is so dry that it's easy for the fire to spread very quickly," Fennessy told the
Los Angeles Times
.
Climate change has increased the risk of wildfires and also the severity of fires in Southern California and throughout the western United States.
"I think that's exactly what we will experience in the coming weeks and years," he added.
Five or ten years ago, a fire like this could probably have been stopped very early, the chief of the fire protection agency surmised.
Heavy fire in California: "It breaks your heart"
According to media reports, hundreds of residents had to leave their homes and get to safety.
So far no one has been injured.
"It's just terrible," said an affected resident.
She was only able to grab some personal belongings and her cats before the flames came.
During daylight, the firefighters were supported by firefighting planes and helicopters.
"Our goal is to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading from one home to the next," said Fire Chief Sean Doran.
A severe fire in California has destroyed numerous homes.
© Marcio J. Sanchez/dpa
"It's heartbreaking," Orange County District Sheriff Lisa Bartlett told the
Los Angeles Times
.
The fire started small, then spread "in a millisecond or so" and eventually got out of control.
The sheer scale of some of the affected buildings also made it difficult to contain the fires: "If you look at the size of the houses, there is just so much combustible material that they quickly catch fire.
And then the wind picks up and the flames can just jump from house to house," Bartlett said.
The southwestern United States has been suffering from several forest fires for weeks, which the authorities say are favored by the persistent drought.
The state of New Mexico is currently the worst affected.
But at the other end of the world, in Australia, a heat wave is currently causing an extreme natural phenomenon.
In the US state of Florida, a passenger had to land a small plane after his pilot failed.
(ph with dpa)