With Getty Fire still burning, Los Angeles braces for 'extreme red flag' winds

The Getty Fire that has destroyed at least a dozen structures in west Los Angeles and caused thousands of evacuations was sparked by a eucalyptus tree branch that fell on power lines early Monday morning, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Tuesday.

The power lines are operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and the agency's general manager, Marty Adams, said brush was cleared in the area in July. Garcetti told reporters the branch came from outside of that space, and the incident was "an act of God." As of Tuesday afternoon, the fire was only 15 percent contained.

The National Weather Service's office in Oxnard, California, issued an "extreme red flag" warning on Tuesday, an alert so serious that meteorologists told the Los Angeles Times they can't recall ever using the term before. Starting on Tuesday night, Los Angeles is expected to experience 30 hours of high winds, with isolated wind gusts of up to 80 mph. This would be the worst wind to hit in more than a decade, and if it knocked down power lines, it could be disastrous in these dry conditions.

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