Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate as dry, windy conditions fuel fires across the state
By Joanna Walters/The Guardian
As more than 1,500 firefighters struggle to contain the two main wildfires raging north of San Francisco and just outside Los Angeles right now, tens of thousands of people have already been evacuated and, as the infernos worsen amid powerful, dry winds, thousands more have been waking up today to the prospect that they, too, may have to evacuate.
The Los Angeles County fire department is reporting that the so-called Tick Fire in the Santa Clarita Valley, which sprang into life just after 1PM local time yesterday on Tick Canyon Road, is nowhere near contained and jumped a main road artery overnight, the 14 Freeway that runs east-west past Santa Clarita before joining Interstates 5 and 405 that enter Los Angeles from the north-west.
Early today, the fire department is reporting erratic winds up to 45mph and temperatures in the 90s F in the region, with low humidity – excessively dangerous fire conditions.
Approximately 40,000 residents are currently under evacuation orders and the authorities are working on where people can evacuate. Some 10,000 structures are threatened and so far there are no reports of injuries either to the public or firefighters.
