‘Suspicious’ wildfire in Los Angeles has now claimed 1,300 acres

Fire sweeping across upscale California neighbourhoods reached 1,333 acres, a frightening reminder of what is to come in 2021

Roughly 1,000 people in Los Angeles are currently under evacuation orders amidst a raging wildfire, according to local authorities.

The orders were first put in place on Saturday evening. On Sunday, weather conditions led to the fires growing up to 1,333 acres at 1pm, matching warnings from the LA Fire Department that the Palisades Fire would travel northwards.

Sean Ferguson, an LAFD firefighter, told CNN about the challenges posed by fires high up in the hills. He is one of 300 tasked with getting the fire under control.

“We will again fly our Fire Hawk helicopters at night, which we did Saturday. They’re effective in steep terrain because they can drop 1,000 gallons of water each.”

Authorities have said the fires had a “suspicious start” as the LAFD, Los Angeles County Sheriff and the Los Angeles Police Department are working together to figure out what happened. At 6pm on Sunday, they published an updated on their website.

“During the course of the investigation, LAFD Arson Investigators and LAPD have aggressively tracked down any and all potential leads. We did have one individual who was detained and released. However, we now have a 2nd individual that is being questioned. The active investigation into the cause of the Palisades fire continues,” the statement read.

According to NBC News, there was a picture disseminated of a rumoured suspect on the app Citizen. However, it was removed because the claims could not be verified.

“Once we realized this error, we retracted the photo and reward offer,” the personal safety app developers said, and urged its users not to repeat anything similar.

“They're doing a really, really good job, but it’s very scary,” Victoria Romer, a local resident, told ABC7 News. “Last night, the flames were just up the hill, and you could see them very readily and the night before, they were over there, so it’s really frightening when you realise that someone’s out there setting these things.”

Local schools have been closed and classes will be held online until the local district says children can return.

It is suspected that the fire season this year will be particularly catastrophic, especially following the notable California wildfires in 2020, according to The National Weather Service.

Last year’s wildfires were the worst on record, burning across 4.1 million acres of land across the state. Thirty-one people died and 10,000 buildings damaged.