Skogsbrand i Los Angeles (2025-01-07)

Myndigheterna i Los Angeles utreder just nu hur bränderna i staden startade.

På nyårsnatten larmades räddningstjänsten till ett område nordöst om Pacific Palisades.

Då hade en brand brutit ut efter att festfirare skjutit fyrverkerier vid tolvslaget. Det tog brandmännen drygt fyra timmar att släcka den elden, trots att förhållandena var ideala.
https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/3Mz2Aq/teorin-branden-startade-redan-under-nyarsnatten

Typically, about 10 to 25 Santa Ana wind events occur annually.[5] A Santa Ana wind can blow from one to seven days, with an average wind event lasting three days.

What are the Santa Ana winds?
Santa Anas are dry, warm and gusty northeast winds that blow from the interior of southern California toward the coast and offshore, moving in the opposite direction of the normal onshore flow that carries moist air from the Pacific into the region.

Why do they increase wildfire danger?
Humidity levels often plunge to single-digit percentages during a Santa Ana wind. The extreme lack of humidity in the air causes vegetation – living and dead – to significantly dry out and become susceptible to fire.

The tremendous wind speeds can stoke any spark – from a fallen power line to a cigarette butt – into a rapidly spreading conflagration.

Santa Anas are linked to some of the worst wildfires southern California has experienced, including the Woolsey fire, which killed three people and destroyed more than 1,600 structures in November 2018, and the Franklin fire, which damaged or destroyed nearly 50 homes in the Malibu area.

The National Weather Service office in Los Angeles forecasts that the stronger Santa Ana winds will last from Monday night into Wednesday.