The death toll from the fire around Los Angeles in the US state of California rose to 10 on Friday. This is the biggest fire in California so far.
The fire that has been raging for the last 4 days has spread over about 40 thousand acres. An area of 29 thousand acres has been completely burnt. About 10 thousand buildings have been destroyed by the fire, while 30 thousand houses have been damaged.
About 50 thousand people have been asked to vacate their houses immediately. About 3 lakh people have been instructed to go to a safe place. The administration has warned of further spread of the fire by Saturday.
Fire on Hollywood Hills
According to BBC, the way the fire in California is spreading, there is a danger of burning of the ‘Hollywood Board’, the identity of the American film industry, on Hollywood Hills. Actually there is a place named Hollywood in LA, on which the American film industry is named Hollywood.
The bungalows of many Hollywood stars have also been burnt in the posh area of Palisades in LA city due to the fire. The houses of many Hollywood stars including Paris Hilton, Steven Spielberg, Mandy Moore, Ashton Kutcher have been burnt to ashes. Many celebrities have also had to leave their homes.
The city of Los Angeles in California is situated between the mountains. There are pine forests here. The fire started on Tuesday due to burning of dry pine trees. In the next few hours, the fire engulfed a large area of Los Angeles. The air of the city has become poisonous.
After the fire broke out in the forests, the ‘Santa Ana’ winds blowing at a speed of about 160 km per hour intensified the fire. Usually these winds blowing in the autumn season are very hot. This affects Southern California the most. According to reports, the speed of the winds is still very high, due to which the fire is spreading continuously.