LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Search teams with dogs fanned out looking for victims in Los Angeles, United States (US) as firefighters girded for hurricane-force winds that could spark new blazes.
With the disaster in America’s second biggest city in its seventh day, 24 people are known to have died – a toll expected to rise – and more than 90,000 people remain displaced.
But the first glimmers of normal life have begun to re-emerge.
Schools – shuttered since roaring winds spread flames through whole communities – re-opened, while the beloved Los Angeles Lakers basketball team played on Monday night.
However, with strong Santa Ana winds returning, California officials were bracing for new problems.Forecasters said “extremely critical fire weather conditions” were developing in the region with winds already gusting to 120 kilometres per hour in parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
“Not only will these extreme and dangerous conditions make fighting ongoing fires much more difficult, but these will make new ignitions much more likely,” the National Weather Service said.
The renewed danger was doing little to soothe frayed nerves, with parents struggling to make sense of the disaster for their children.
There was some good news for youngsters, as hundreds of thousands of children went back to classrooms – though damaged schools and those in evacuation zones remained closed.
Nine people have been charged in connection with looting in no-go areas, Los Angeles County’s chief prosecutor said.
The charges include for one burglary that netted USD200,000, and one in which an Emmy statuette was stolen, said District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
Meanwhile teams with cadaver dogs were going plot-to-plot in ruined areas searching for victims.
“It is a very grim task, and we unfortunately, every day we’re doing this, we’re running across the remains of individual community members,” County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
“That is not easy work,” he said, adding: “I believe we’ll continue to find remains.”
