Southern California burns

last updated 8 January 2015

Los Angeles

Wildfires stoked by fierce desert winds ravaged Southern California this week, killing at least 16 people, destroying more than 1,500 homes, and threatening to rush into the city of Los Angeles. Walls of flames raced over hillsides parched by drought, and entire neighborhoods were reduced to ash. Many of the dead were trapped in their cars as they tried to flee. Tens of thousands of people, some with just minutes’ notice, snatched what belongings they could and evacuated. “I was grabbing wet towels,” said Lisza Pontes, 43, of San Diego County. “Fire was at our feet. It was blazing over our heads and burning everywhere.” Over the course of just two days, six major blazes consumed an area half the size of Rhode Island. “It’s humbling,” a firefighter said. “It goes wherever it wants to go, and consumes whatever it wants.”