Devastating firestorms that raged across Southern California on Wednesday, destroying more than 1,000 homes, killing at least five people, and evacuating tens of thousands of people, were the result of a deadly combination of weather events that coincided with the Los Angeles area’s worst possible timing.

This winter, Northern California has had a reasonably normal wet season, while Southern California has been record dry, scientists said Wednesday. Since October 1, San Francisco’s rainfall has been 112% of its historical average, with 10.4 inches, whereas downtown Los Angeles has received only 3% of its normal amount, 0.16 inches. According to the National Weather Service, the worst Santa Ana winds since 2011 exacerbated the parched vegetation and soils, with hot-dry gusts of up to 85 mph hitting the Los Angeles Basin on Wednesday. The inferno was uncontrollable. “It’s a disaster, pure disaster,” said Scott Stephens, a long-time fire science professor at UC Berkeley. “It truly is a catastrophe. The costs are going to be enormous.

“It’s a disaster, pure disaster,” said Scott Stephens, a long-time fire science professor at UC Berkeley. “It truly is a catastrophe. The costs will be extraordinarily huge. “This is a sad day.” As of late Wednesday, there were three major fires burning in the Los Angeles area: the Palisades Fire, which had burned 15,832 acres on the city’s westside from the expensive hillside neighbourhoods of Pacific Palisades to the ocean along the Pacific Coast Highway toward Malibu; the Eaton Fire, which burned 10,600 acres in the hills northeast of Pasadena, not far from the Rose Bowl, killing five people; and the Hurst Fire, which had burned 505 acres in the Sylmar neighbourhood. Everything began on Tuesday, and were were 0% contained late Wednesday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The flames burned over 1,000 houses, businesses, and other structures, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone stated at a news conference Wednesday morning. At least 70,000 people were told to evacuate, and over 100 schools in the impacted districts cancelled lessons.

The Palisades Fire grabbed international attention as raging flames destroyed hillside mansions worth $5 million or more, sending terrifying columns of black smoke above palm trees and sandy beaches. Several celebrities, including Mark Hamill, Jamie Lee Curtis, and James Woods, claimed to have evacuated. Vegetation burnt on the grounds of the Getty Villa, a renowned art museum in Pacific Palisades, but the structures and collection remained intact, museum officials said Wednesday. Stephens, a Berkeley professor, said the Palisades Fire reminded him of the 1991 Oakland Hills Fire, one of Northern California’s most destructive wildfires. That fire, which began in late October, also occurred during exceptionally dry conditions—in the fourth year of a harsh drought—and was propelled by 50 mph winds blowing from the land southward the ocean

It killed 25 people, making it the third deadliest fire in California history, after only the 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County, which killed 85 people, and the Griffith Park Fire in Los Angeles in October 1933, which killed 29 people. Overall, 2,843 single-family homes and 437 apartment units were destroyed in Upper Rockridge, Forest Park, Montclair, and other neighbourhoods. Panicked locals raced their automobiles down small streets, sometimes colliding or fleeing for their lives. On Tuesday, the same chaotic sight unfolded in the Palisades region, when people abandoned Mercedes, Porsches, and Bentleys on tight, curving roads, forcing fire crews with bulldozers to push the vehicles out of the way so engines could pass. The National Weather Service issued a red flag It killed 25 people, making it the third deadliest fire in California history, after only the 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County, which killed 85 people, and the Griffith Park Fire in Los Angeles in October 1933, which killed 29 people. Overall, 2,843 single-family homes and 437 apartment units were destroyed in Upper Rockridge, Forest Park, Montclair, and other neighbourhoods. Panicked locals raced their automobiles down small streets, sometimes colliding or fleeing for their lives. On Tuesday, the same chaotic sight unfolded in the Palisades region, when people abandoned Mercedes, Porsches, and Bentleys on tight, curving roads, forcing fire crews with bulldozers to push the vehicles out of the way so engines could pass. The National Weather Service issued a red flag.

Craig Clements, director of San Jose State University’s Fire Weather Research Lab, stated that Northern California does not have the same fire risk as Southern California. “We have a lot of wind right now. But we’ve had rain,” Clements explained. “We have a low fire danger in Northern California. There has been no rain in Southern California this winter. Their vegetation is extremely dry. “Add hurricane-force winds, and it’s a recipe for disaster.” Numerous Bay Area agencies assisted in the firefighting efforts. Cal Fire dispatched three fire engines and a battalion chief from the San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit, as well as two engines and a strike team from the Santa Clara Unit. Alameda County Fire, Oakland Fire, Hayward Fire, and Fremont Fire all dispatched firemen as part of a strike squad Contra Costa County Fire Protection District sent two engines, and San Jose, Sunnyvale, Mountain View fire departments also provided 22 firefighters and five engines.

“Every person on this team has volunteered to do this,” said San Jose Fire Department Battalion Chief Javier Ascencio.

President Biden appeared at a briefing Wednesday at a Santa Monica fire station with Gov. Gavin Newsom, promising federal help.

Biden and Newsom landed in Los Angeles on Tuesday with plans to head to Coachella Valley for the dedication of the new Chuckwalla National Monument. However, because of the dangerously high winds, the visit was cancelled. On Wednesday, Newsom also cancelled plans to leave California to attend former President Jimmy Carter’s burial in Washington, D.C. on Thursday. Biden signed a massive disaster declaration for California, which will let federal relief from FEMA and other agencies to flow promptly. He also contributed five air tankers, ten Navy aircraft equipped with water buckets, and scores of fire engines from the Forest Service and other organizations to the firefighting efforts.