Massive fires in California + video | Tens of thousands of homes were cut off

Following the massive wildfires in California, tens of thousands of homes have lost power and more than 81 hectares of land have been destroyed.

According to Ambassador Arjan, the forest fires in Southern California have spread due to the heat and strong winds and have forced the authorities to issue evacuation orders and safety warnings. At the same time, the electricity companies have cut off the electricity of tens of thousands of customers to reduce the risk of further fires, and the possibility of cutting off the electricity of hundreds of thousands of other customers has also been raised.

According to published reports, the Bryson fire in the Malibu area west of Los Angeles has burned about 200 acres, equivalent to 81 hectares, by Thursday evening. The fire started shortly before 5:00 p.m. near Encinal Canyon Road and Mulholland Highway, and its spread led to the issuance of evacuation orders and warnings for large areas of the Santa Monica Mountains.

The spread of the fire also threatened a juvenile detention and rehabilitation center in Los Angeles County, and this center was evacuated Thursday evening. Images from nearby cameras showed a large plume of black smoke over the hills of the area.

The American Red Cross has set up a shelter for evacuees at Agoura High School in Agoura Hills. Also, the Agora Animal Care Center is set up to accept the pets of evacuees.

Meanwhile, firefighters were battling two other blazes in the city of Azusa, north of Los Angeles, and Camp Pendleton, a military base near San Diego. These two fires also started on Thursday afternoon and led to evacuation orders.

As the fire risk increased, Southern California Edison Electric Company announced that more than 62,000 customers in Los Angeles and Ventura counties were experiencing power outages as of late Thursday night. The company was also considering preventive power outages for hundreds of thousands of other customers following continued fire warnings.

In Northern California, Pacific Electric and Gas Company announced that nearly 62,000 customers in 26 counties, including the Sierra Nevada foothills, wine producing areas and parts of the Central Coast, were without power. The company started the preventive power cut on Wednesday night.

The Southern California Edison Company also reported power outages for about 65,000 customers in Los Angeles, Kern and Ventura counties.

In recent years, considering the role of electrical equipment in the occurrence of some deadly fires in the state, California electric companies have been conducting preventive power cuts in dry and windy weather conditions. The purpose of this action is to prevent sparks in power lines and their transfer to dry vegetation due to wind.

The US National Weather Service also predicted that the speed of strong winds will increase during the night and the conditions for the spread of fires will become more difficult. According to forecasts, weather conditions increasing the risk of fire were expected to continue until Saturday.