At least seven confirmed dead as multiple blazes scorch several cities in the Los Angeles County Area in one of the worst outbreaks of wildfires to strike southern California.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00At least seven people were confirmed dead as wildfires continue to rage in Los Angeles.
00:08The city has been battling five concurrent fires, two of them classified major, that
00:12have caused extensive damage to the iconic city.
00:16And officials confirmed that a sixth fire, named Kenneth, has broken out.
00:21We are now actively engaged in a new brush fire.
00:25We're calling it the Kenneth fire in the West Hills area of Los Angeles, on the border
00:30of Ventura County.
00:32This fire was over 50 acres upon arrival.
00:35With the potential for rapid growth, authorities say the two biggest fires, the Palisades and
00:41Eaton, have destroyed more than 10,000 structures combined.
00:45Homes, buildings, grocery stores, banks, schools and places of worship were burnt to a crisp
00:51in what U.S. President Joe Biden called the worst fires to ever hit the city.
00:57Many areas across L.A. are covered in thick clouds of smoke and ash, further devastating
01:02Angelenos.
01:03I've woken up with burning eyes and a sore throat, coughing.
01:09I've had friends talk about getting nosebleeds.
01:11It's just awful.
01:12I'm sleeping in a mask.
01:16And the problem is not one that will likely fade soon.
01:20The amount of smog and toxins in the air, it's like, you know, even though our house
01:26is spared, obviously we're probably not going to be able to move back in for months.
01:33Officials say the Palisades and Eaton fires alone have burnt through close to 30,000 acres
01:38of land.
01:40The other four fires that are still ablaze are responsible for even more damage.
01:45Analysts say it can take months or even years to rebuild to pre-fire levels.
01:50And though the government has not yet released figures on how much the damages are estimated
01:54at, private companies believe costs are in the $135 to $150 billion region.