California braces for dangerous wildfire weather this week

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 16 Oct, 03:38 · Archive

Multiple wildfires have erupted across California as strong Santa Ana winds and high temperatures set to fuel rapid fire spread through Saturday.

Multiple wildfires erupted across California on Thursday as the state braced for dangerous weather conditions. The largest blaze, the Henderson fire at Camp Pendleton, a Marine Corps training base near San Diego, consumed more than 1,000 acres and was zero per cent contained by 6pm on Thursday. Evacuations were issued for the Henderson fire and for two brush fires in the Los Angeles area: one in Azusa, near the San Gabriel mountains north-east of Los Angeles, and another in Malibu. Part of Interstate 5, a major highway in the San Diego region, was briefly closed.

The National Weather Service warned that moderate to strong Santa Ana winds would bring critical fire weather conditions to south-west California through Saturday. Strong, dry winds could reach 20-40mph, with gusts from 50-70mph in the San Gabriel mountains in Los Angeles county and the Santa Susana mountains in Ventura county. The conditions raise the potential for extreme fire behaviour and rapid spread of flames.

How it is being reported

• Deadly Santa Ana winds return to fire-scarred LA — but have officials learned anything?In arid Southern California, the Santa Ana winds always whisper a warning.New York Post · 16 Oct, 03:26
• California faces more extreme weather as hot, windy days set to raise wildfire riskWarnings come as Californians have already in autumn felt brutal heatwave and storm surge that battered coast Communities across California are bracing for more dangerous weather this week, with strong winds and high temperatures that could set the stage for rapid wildfire growth over the next several days. “A moderate to strong Santa Ana wind will bring widespread strong winds and critical fire weather conditions to much of south-west California through Saturday,” the National Weather Service said in a forecast issued on Thursday. Continue reading...Guardian World · 15 Oct, 21:56

In this story: California · Camp Pendleton · San Diego · Los Angeles · National Weather Service · Malibu · Azusa · Interstate 5

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