SoCal Weather: Thousands without power as fierce winds pose wildfire threat to 17 million people

The National Weather Service has issued red flag warnings for areas of multiple counties, including San Diego, Los Angeles and Ventura – affecting more than 17 million people as of Friday afternoon.

The agency said winds as high as 74 mph swept through Los Angeles’ Pacoima neighborhood on Thursday.

“The severe fire weather area included more than 3 million people from Thursday night through Friday morning, and that number dropped to more than a million for mostly people,” said CNN meteorologist Rob Shackelford. Los Angeles and Ventura counties on Friday. The increased threat is likely to remain in the region through Sunday, he said.

A red flag warning is issued when an area has ideal conditions for fires to break out and spread, which can occur with strong winds, low humidity and warm temperatures, the NWS explained.

“If ignition occurs, the conditions favorable for rapid fire spread, long range fire and intense fire behavior can pose a threat to life and property.” NWS said.

Nearly 70,000 homes and businesses lost power on Thanksgiving Day, Southern California Edison said. As of early Friday, more than 66,000 SCE customers remained without power, according to poweroutage.us.

The company, which serves 5 million customers, said it had cut power because high winds tend to increase the risk of downed power lines and triggering wildfires. Most of the cuts are in Riverside County, east of Los Angeles.

“I’d rather have more wind and less electricity than burn down my house,” said Carl Pride, a Fontana resident CNN branch KABC. “A minor inconvenience is nothing compared to losing my home,” he said, trying to grab his hat as strong winds blew it away.

Additionally, nearly 6,000 San Diego Power & Electric customers are without electricity, according to poweroutage.us. Overall, more than 76,000 customers were without power in the area as of early Friday, according to the website.

In North Hollywood, strong winds toppled a tree over a roof, injuring one resident, KABC reported. Fallen trees in several Orange County neighborhoods also caused damage, the branch reported.

In a Facebook post, CalFire said it was preparing ahead of Thanksgiving for wildfire risk, with resources “strategically ramping up across parts of Southern CA to prepare for fire weather.” important forest.”

The state’s wildfire season has been devastating so far with 8,367 fires burning more than 3 million acres, according to CalFire. The fires have been exacerbated by climate change creating hotter and drier conditions.

On Thursday, teams quickly put out Fire Lopez when it’s half an acre in Los Angeles and small brush fire.

CNN’s Andy Rose contributed to this report.

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