A firefighter stands on a hillside covered with retardant as the Palisades Fire, one of several simultaneous blazes that have ripped across Los Angeles County, burns in Mandeville Canyon, a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ringo Chiu
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Los Angeles firefighters braced for high winds overnight into Tuesday, gusts that could fuel two monstrous wildfires that have already leveled entire neighborhoods, killed at least two dozen people, and burned an area the size of Washington, D.C.
A red flag warning was in effect late on Monday as dry, dangerous Santa Ana winds picked up speed. Gusts could hit 75 mph (120 kph) starting at around 4 a.m. Tuesday (1200 GMT), said David Roth, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center.
