Los Angeles wildfire switches direction, posing new threat despite easing winds

The largest of the raging wildfires that have devastated parts of Los Angeles this week was reported to have shifted direction on Saturday, triggering more evacuation orders and posing a new challenge to exhausted firefighters.

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Six simultaneous blazes that have ripped across Los Angeles County neighborhoods since Tuesday have killed at least 11 people and damaged or destroyed 10,000 structures. The toll is expected to mount when firefighters are able to conduct house-to-house searches.

The fierce Santa Ana winds that fanned the infernos eased on Friday night. But the Palisades Fire on the city’s western edge was heading in a new direction, prompting another evacuation order as it edged towards the Brentwood neighborhood and the San Fernando Valley foothills, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“The Palisades fire has got a new significant flare-up on the eastern portion and continues to northeast,” LA Fire Department Captain Erik Scott told local station KTLA, according to a report on the LA Times website.

A preliminary estimate by AccuWeather put the damage and economic losses so far between $135 billion and $150 billion. By comparison, AccuWeather estimated the damage and economic losses caused by Hurricane Helene, which tore across six southeastern states last fall, at $225 billion to $250 billion.

“This will be the costliest wildfire in California modern history and also very likely the costliest wildfire in US modern history,” Jonathan Porter, the private firm's chief meteorologist, said.