The second major Southern California brushfire last week continued to burn on Friday on the resort island of Santa Catalina. But Avalon, the island's major town, appeared to have been spared and some of the thousands of people who had been evacuated began returning from the mainland.
The fire, whose cause remains undetermined, broke out on Thursday afternoon and for a time threatened Avalon, which has a population of about 3,300.
But hundreds of firefighters, aided by dampening air, wind shifts, and a swarm of helicopters and planes dropping water and fire retardant, beat back the blaze, which by late on Friday afternoon was confined to the tinder-dry mountains of the island, about 35km off the coast.
PHOTO: AP
In all, about 3,800 people, including tourists, were evacuated overnight from Catalina and brought here to Long Beach aboard ferries.
About 140 people spent Thursday night at an evacuation post at a high school in Long Beach.
The blaze charred more than 1,700 hectares of the narrow, 196.8km2 island whose vast, hilly parkland, abundant wildlife, and winding, cobblestone roads dotted with colorful bungalows make it a favorite getaway for Angelenos.
A herd of bison, whose forebears were brought over decades ago for a movie shoot, and four newly hatched eaglets were reported safe.
Only one house and a handful of small structures were burned. No serious injuries were reported.
Ferries carried people off the island while military hovercraft had to be used to take dozens of fire trucks and other apparatus to the island. In all, more than 700 firefighters, 44 fire engines, nine helicopters, and five airplanes from state, federal, and local agencies fought the blaze.
Many of the evacuees were workers originally from Jalisco, Mexico. Representatives from the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles arrived in Long Beach to assist them.
"When we got on the boat, we were in a panic because we could feel the heat in the air," said Elsa Contreras, 33, who evacuated with her husband and their seven children, one of whom was vomiting from the smoke.
"It was very stressful, getting all the children," Contreras said. "I didn't want to leave separately without my husband and children."
Rogelio Hernandez, 33, with his wife and two-year-old son, said the police had given residents of his apartment building five minutes to evacuate as flames encroached on Thursday.
"We didn't think it was going to get this bad," Hernandez said.
The fire was a testament to just how dry the region is, having received only two inches of rain since January.
Catalina has experienced wildfires before, including one that burned Avalon in 1915, but its offshore location with cool, damp winds tends to keep fires in check.
Once again, officials urged residents to take precautions such as clearing brush away from homes.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese