Nearly 700 structures including multi-million dollar mansions have been destroyed by wildfires raging on six different fronts, but despite the intensity of the blazes, authorities have reported only one fatality.
Black smoke billowed through the region, gagging residents who ventured outdoors.
“I’ve never seen anything like this and I’ve lived here 20 years,” Judy Herman, 76, told AFP.
Herman was relieved to find her home in Murrieta, east of Los Angeles, still intact.
It was part of the huge evacuation zone forced by the “Liberty” fire — which included many ranches in the area, where rodeos are popular.
Meanwhile, since erupting in Ventura county late Monday, the so-called “Thomas” fire has ravaged 143,000 acres.
With gusts of up to 100kph, the turbulent seasonal Santa Ana winds whipped the fire on Friday, spitting embers and creating “extreme fire danger.” A red alert was extended into the weekend due to expected low humidity.
Further south in San Diego county the “Lilac” fire was ballooning at a dangerous rate, charring more than 4,000 acres after igniting Thursday morning and triggering a new wave of evacuations as it encroached on the university town of Santa Barbara.
The plumes of smoke and flames left at least four people in the area injured from burns or smoke inhalation.
With ravaged trees lying horizontal and houses destroyed, everything was black as firefighters inspected for possible sources for a new blaze.
Taking advantage of a lull in the wind, they also blasted water on homes affected in both towns.
Meanwhile, firefighters also got something of a handle on the “Skirball” fire in Los Angeles, which had spewed rivers of flames over 500 acres in the densely populated area of Bel Air, engulfing entire hillsides.
Multi-million dollar mansions were destroyed in the neighbourhood, home to many celebrities.
Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has a $30mn estate, the Moraga Bel Air Winery, there.
Another Los Angeles county blaze, the Rye fire, has consumed more than 6,000 acres and was 50% contained, while the “Creek” fire — the largest wildfire menacing the LA region — had grown to more than 15,000 acres and destroyed more than 100 structures, over half of them residential.
The Liberty wildfire in Riverside county east of Los Angeles, America’s second largest city, has scorched 300 acres and was just 10% contained.
US President Donald Trump issued a state of emergency in California, authorising the release of federal funds to “help alleviate the hardship and suffering that the emergency may inflict on the local population.”
However, several evacuation orders were lifted Friday afternoon.
This has been California’s deadliest year ever for wildfires.
More than 40 people died in October when fires swept through the state’s wine-producing counties north of San Francisco.
Southern California’s Getty Center, one of the world’s wealthiest art institutions, said it had survived a wildfire tearing through Los Angeles thanks to a disaster plan that has it ready for earthquakes as well.
Fires that have chased almost 200,000 Californians from their homes covered the Getty’s hillside location in smoke this week.
Perched above the busy 405 freeway, an artery of California’s traffic system, the Getty is among the most visited US museums and reopened on Friday after two days closed.
The Getty’s design, and a plan developed with insurers eager to keep the valuable collection safe, helped shield from damage art including Edouard Manet’s “Spring” for which it paid more than $65mn in 2014.
As gray clouds swept onto the campus earlier in the week, a high-tech air filtration system pushed air out of buildings, making it harder for smoke to seep inside, said Linda Somerville, assistant director of insurance and risk management for the J Paul Getty Trust, which oversees the Getty Center and has nearly $12bn in assets, including art.
The museum has its own water tanks and has landscaped the complex in order to keep flames at bay.
“By putting all these bells and whistles in, we are able to wet down our hillsides, close intake valves and keep smoke and debris out,” Somerville said.
Getty representatives meet quarterly with US commercial property insurer FM Global, the Getty’s insurer, to review everything from brush on the property to sprinkler system design, Somerville said.
The Getty, which opened in 1997, also works year-round at preventing potential earthquake damage, Somerville said.
Art and display cases throughout the museum sit atop systems that absorb the energy of earthquake vibrations, known as base isolators.
And experts who repair art and artifacts in the Getty’s conservation labs must secure the items to stable surfaces in case an earthquake hits. “Everything is latched down at all times,” Somerville said.
Wildfires raging across Southern California are taking a toll on the region’s iconic film industry, forcing producers of commercials, television shows and even student films to pause or seek alternate shooting locations.
The Los Angeles Police Department on Wednesday suspended permitted filming in zones near the fires as well as other areas deemed to be at severe risk of burning. Applications for filming in the Angeles National Forest were also halted this week.
