An alert sent by the countrywide emergency system in Los Angeles said: “Strong winds overnight creating extreme fire danger.”The fear is that the winds, blowing westward from the California desert, could stoke several blazes burning in the Los Angeles area that have already forced an estimated 200,000 people to evacuate. It erupted before dawn in the Sepulveda Pass, just up Interstate 405 from UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), which cancelled classes for the rest of the day. The Los Angeles mayor declared a local state of emergency on Wednesday morning because of the Skirball fire. Another fire, known as the Rye, threatened more than 5,000 homes and structures north-west of Los Angeles. South of Los Angeles, authorities also ordered evacuations in parts of San Diego County, closer to the Mexico border.

Source: The Guardian December 07, 2017 12:11 UTC