Southern California burns
The week's news at a glance.
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.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What should you be stockpiling for 'World War Three'?
In the Spotlight Britons advised to prepare after the EU tells its citizens to have an emergency kit just in case
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Carnivore diet: why people are eating only meat
The Explainer 'Meatfluencers' are taking social media by storm but experts warn meat-only diets have health consequences
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human blood
Under the radar Drugging the bugs
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published