LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Californians demanded to know who is at fault for the vast devastation caused by the raging Los Angeles wildfires, as a strict curfew went into force to prevent looting and lawlessness.
At least 11 people died as flames ripped through neighbourhoods and razed thousands of homes in a disaster that United States (US) President Joe Biden likened to a “war scene”.
While Angelenos grapple with the heart-rending ruin, anger has risen over officials’ preparedness and response, particularly for a series of false evacuation alarms and after hydrants ran dry as firefighters battled the initial blazes.
Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered a “full independent review” of the city’s utilities, describing the lack of water supplies during the initial fires as “deeply troubling”.
“We need answers to how that happened,” he wrote in an open letter.
Residents like Nicole Perri, whose home in the upscale Pacific Palisades burnt down, told AFP that officials “completely let us down”.
“They let us, the ordinary people, burn,” added Nicholas Norman, across the city in Altadena.
A flare-up late Friday prompted new mandatory evacuations from ritzy neighbourhoods along the fire’s eastern flank, which include the famous Getty Centre. Built at a cost of USD1 billion and constructed partly of fire-resistant travertine stone, the acclaimed museum boasts 125,000 artworks.
Meanwhile, as fears of looting grow, a sunset-to-sunrise curfew took effect in evacuated areas.
Around two dozen arrests have already been made across Los Angeles, where some residents have organized street patrols and kept armed watch over their own houses.
“If we see you in these areas, you will be subject to arrest,” Los Angeles Police Department chief Jim McDonnell said.
Violators face up to six months in prison or USD1,000 fines, he said.
The National Guard has been deployed to bolster law enforcement.
Five separate fires have so far burned more than 15,000 hectares, destroying around 10,000 buildings, California’s fire agency reported.
The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office confirmed an additional fatality on Friday, bringing the overall death toll so far to 11. “It reminded me of more of a war scene, where you had certain targets that were bombarded,” said Biden, as he received a briefing on the fires at the White House.
Winds calmed on Friday, providing a much-needed if fleeting window of opportunity for firefighters battling blazes around the clock for a fourth consecutive day.
At the biggest of the blazes, in Pacific Palisades and Malibu, firefighters said they were starting to get the fire under control, with eight per cent of its perimeter contained.
Braveheart actor Mel Gibson was the latest celebrity to reveal his Malibu home had burned down, telling NewsNation the loss was “devastating”.
Meanwhile, the Eaton Fire in the Altadena area was three percent contained, with Fire Chief Jason Schillinger reporting “significant progress” in quelling the blaze.
A third fire that exploded on Thursday afternoon near the wealthy Hidden Hills enclave, home to celebrities like Kim Kardashian, was 50 per cent surrounded.
But emergency chiefs warned the situation is “still very dangerous” and reprieve from the intense gusts that spread embers will not last.
“The winds have died down today, but… are going to increase again in the coming days,” said Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Deanne Criswell.
