60,000 Californians evacuated due to violent brush fire

California Fire -

It is called "Silverado Fire".

A brush fire fueled by high winds broke out in the Los Angeles area on Monday morning, evacuating some 60,000 residents from the city of Irvine, as California was placed on fire alert.

The fire, which started at 6:47 a.m. local time in the Irvine Hills had already covered 800 hectares four hours later, firefighters said.

The strong wind blowing over the area, with peaks of more than 100 km / h, not only fuels the flames but also prevents the intervention of aerial means of firefighting.

Schools also evacuated

As a precaution, the Irvine authorities have ordered the evacuation of approximately 60,000 residents living in neighborhoods potentially threatened by the flames.

All schools in the area were also evacuated, according to Sergeant Karie Davies of Irvine Police.

Several highways had to be cut because of the rapid progression of the flames, without hampering the evacuations.

" It's bad.

The fire moves rather quickly and so the closures too, as it passes (the roads), ”explained Florentino Olivera, of the California traffic police.

We stand ready to evacuate to Yorba Linda #greenfire pic.twitter.com/ugHis7cAcq

- Philippe Berry (@ptiberry) October 26, 2020

Weather services have placed a large area around Los Angeles on red fire alert until Tuesday afternoon due to strong, very dry winds that have started to blow.

Similar alerts are in effect across much of California, including upstate.

The fires have already caused 31 deaths this year

The phenomenon is typical for this time of year but this episode is particularly strong and brings together "the most dangerous conditions for fires that we have seen since October 2019", when the flames had caused evacuations at the gates of Los Angeles, threatening in particular the famous Getty museum.

In the grip of a chronic drought exacerbated by climate change, the western United States has suffered wildfires of exceptional magnitude this year, with 31 dead and nearly 17,000 km2 gone up in smoke in California alone since. the start of the season.

Some of the giant fires that broke out in the north of the state last August were still not fully contained on Monday.

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