洛杉矶大火造成至少10 人死亡，洛杉矶消防员竞相控制火势

【中美创新时报2025 年 1 月 10 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）消防员在风力减弱、飞机和直升机洒水的帮助下，于周四竞相控制熊熊大火。这场大火扰乱了洛杉矶的生活，烧毁了社区，迫使数千人逃离家园，造成至少10 人死亡。《纽约时报》记者Corina Knoll、Soumya Karlamangla 和 Michael Levenson早些时候对此作了下述报道。

洛杉矶市长 Karen Bass 表示，周三晚上开始并席卷好莱坞山的日落大火现已 100% 得到控制。数百名消防员连夜奋力控制火势，火势已蔓延至 43 英亩，并引发人们担心火势可能蔓延至洛杉矶都会区中心。

但官员警告称，火灾仍然可能致命且难以预测，其中规模最大、破坏性最强的两起火灾——帕利塞兹和伊顿火灾——尚未得到完全控制。官员表示，预计危险的阵风将再次出现，且天气预报没有降雨，火势可能蔓延得更远，并可能引发其他火灾。

破坏规模之大，涉及各个社会经济地位的不同社区，已经是史无前例的。联邦官员表示，火灾已导致 36 万人被强制疏散，烧毁了超过 3 万英亩的土地，相当于近 2.3 万个足球场。

据对该地区进行空中勘测的消防官员称，帕利塞兹大火似乎已经摧毁了 5,000 多栋房屋、企业和其他建筑物。官员们表示，伊顿大火可能已经摧毁了 4,000 到 5,000 栋建筑物。

洛杉矶县警长罗伯特·G·卢纳表示，他预计死亡人数还会上升，并指出一些地区“看起来像是被炸弹炸过一样”。

洛杉矶消防局局长克里斯汀·M·克劳利表示，帕利塞兹大火是规模最大的火灾，已烧毁了圣莫尼卡和马里布之间海岸沿线 17,000 多英亩的丘陵土地，目前仍未得到控制，其“极端火势”给工作人员带来了挑战。她说，这场大火已经是“洛杉矶历史上最具破坏性的自然灾害之一”。

官员称，位于洛杉矶盆地另一端帕萨迪纳地区的伊顿大火截至周四下午已烧毁 13,690 英亩，高于当天早些时候的 10,600 英亩，并已造成至少 5 人死亡。这场大火肆虐了圣盖博山脚下的阿尔塔迪纳，该社区以其历史悠久的黑人社区和波西米亚历史而闻名，数百所房屋被毁。

洛杉矶县消防局局长安东尼·C·马罗尼周四表示，大火现在“正在向威尔逊山峰和威尔逊山天文台蔓延”。他说，有 1,500 多名消防员正在与大火搏斗。

总统乔·拜登表示，联邦政府将支付未来 180 天 100% 的消防费用，并将派遣 400 名额外的消防员和 30 多架消防直升机和飞机。

“我们正在联邦层面尽一切努力，”拜登说。

官员们报告了一些进展的迹象。本周早些时候煽风点火的飓风已经减弱，让停飞的消防飞机得以加入战斗。官员们表示，导致一些消防栓干涸的供水问题似乎也在缓解。

洛杉矶县消防局官员肯尼奇·哈斯凯特 (Kenichi Haskett) 表示，帕利塞兹火灾昨晚没有供水问题的报告。他说卡车正在将水运到现场，以帮助解决短缺问题。

洛杉矶县公共工程部主任马克·佩斯特雷拉 (Mark Pestrella) 表示，水库已满，随时准备帮助消防员。一些官员谨慎乐观地认为，最糟糕的时期可能已经过去。

“虽然我们仍然面临重大威胁，但我希望形势正在好转，”洛杉矶县监事会主席凯瑟琳·巴格 (Kathryn Barger) 说。

但预报指出，未来还有更多危险。洛杉矶国家气象局的气象学家托德·霍尔表示，尽管周四风力较小，但周五和周末风力可能会再次增强。周一晚至周二也可能刮起强风，阵风时速可能达到 80 英里/小时，他说。

超过 10 万居民流离失所，许多人都因灾难而感到震惊——无论是名人还是普通洛杉矶人。比利·克里斯托说，帕利塞兹大火摧毁了他和妻子珍妮丝自 1979 年以来一直居住的家，帕丽斯·希尔顿说她在电视直播中看到自己在马里布的家被烧毁。

在阿尔塔迪纳，许多工薪阶层和中产阶级家庭的家园，69 岁的戈德温·阿玛法说，他正在用水管试图阻止邻居的房子着火，这时他的房子突然着火了。

“警长过来告诉他，‘你必须走，否则你就死定了’，”他说。他和妻子惊慌失措地撤离，然后在周三返回。他们的房子被烧毁了。

“我只剩下衣服和卡车，仅此而已，”阿玛法说。他指着卡车的车牌架，上面写着“美丽的阿尔塔迪纳”。“美丽的阿尔塔迪纳？”他说。“还有什么美的？”

历史学家兼作家米歇尔·扎克 (Michele Zack) 在该社区居住了 40 年，她说她和丈夫已经撤离并安全了，但他们几十年来精心修复的家却被毁了。

“我真的没想到我们的房子会被烧毁，”她说，并指出我们的房子海拔较低。“我们收拾行李离开了，但没有带上所有应该带的东西。我们一直在想我们失去了的新东西。我为什么不把家里的银器拿出来呢？”

即使在没有被火灾影响的地区，烟雾也笼罩着天空，日常生活的节奏被打乱了。大型体育赛事被推迟，文化生活被搁置，音乐剧和演出被取消，盖蒂中心、洛杉矶郡艺术博物馆和布罗德博物馆等博物馆对公众关闭。洛杉矶郡至少有 11 个学区，包括最大的洛杉矶联合学区，周四仍处于关闭状态，部分学区将于周五继续关闭。

大火迅速蔓延引发了对巴斯的批评，大火爆发时，巴斯正在加纳参加该国新总统的就职典礼。周四，在与其他官员举行的新闻发布会上，她首先被哥伦比亚广播公司新闻记者问到了一个棘手的问题，他问道：“是什么原因导致这种准备不足和反应迟缓？”

巴斯说，危机结束后，“我们绝对会进行评估”，以检查该市的反应。“但我现在的重点是生命和家园。”

本文最初发表于《纽约时报》。

题图：1 月 9 日，消防员在洛杉矶太平洋帕利塞德社区的帕利塞德大火中寻找热点，消防加油机在上空盘旋。LOREN ELLIOTT/NYT

附原英文报道：

Firefighters in Los Angeles race to corral inferno as gusts ease

By Corina Knoll, Soumya Karlamangla and Michael Levenson New York Times,Updated January 10, 2025 

A firefighter looks for hotspots as firefighting tanker aircraft circle overhead amid the Palisades fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, on Jan. 9.LOREN ELLIOTT/NYT

LOS ANGELES — Firefighters, aided by calmer winds and planes and helicopters dropping water, were racing Thursday to try to gain control of roaring wildfires that have upended life in Los Angeles, incinerated neighborhoods, driven thousands from their homes and killed at least five people.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said that the Sunset fire, which started Wednesday evening and raced across the Hollywood Hills, was now 100% contained. Hundreds of firefighters worked overnight to control the fire, which had reached 43 acres and had prompted fears that it could spread to the center of the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

But officials warned that the fires remained potentially deadly and unpredictable, and that the two largest and most destructive ones, the Palisades and Eaton fires, were completely uncontained. With dangerous wind gusts expected to return and no rain in the forecast, officials said that the fires could spread even farther, and that other fires could start.

The scale of the destruction, across diverse communities of every socioeconomic status, is already without precedent. The fires have put 360,000 people under mandatory evacuation orders, federal officials said, and have scorched more than 30,000 acres, equivalent to nearly 23,000 football fields.

The Palisades fire appears to have destroyed more than 5,000 homes, businesses and other structures, according to fire officials who conducted aerial surveys of the region. The Eaton fire may have destroyed 4,000 to 5,000 structures, officials said.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert G. Luna said he expected the death toll to rise, noting that some areas “look like a bomb was dropped in them.”

The Palisades fire, which is the largest and has burned more than 17,000 hilly acres along the coast between Santa Monica and Malibu, remains unchecked and is challenging crews with its “extreme fire behavior,” Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin M. Crowley said. The fire already ranks as “one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles,” she said.

The Eaton fire, on the opposite end of the Los Angeles basin in the Pasadena area, had reached 13,690 acres by Thursday afternoon, up from 10,600 acres earlier in the day, and had killed at least five people, officials said. That fire has ravaged Altadena, a community in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains known for its historically Black neighborhoods and bohemian history, where hundreds of homes have been destroyed.

The blaze was now “making a run” toward the peak of Mount Wilson and the Mount Wilson Observatory, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone said Thursday. More than 1,500 firefighters were battling the blaze, he said.

President Joe Biden said the federal government would pay 100% of the firefighting needs for the next 180 days and would send 400 additional firefighters and more than 30 firefighting helicopters and planes.

“We are doing literally everything we can at a federal level,” Biden said.

Officials reported some glimmers of progress. The hurricane-force winds that had fanned the fires earlier in the week had subsided, allowing firefighting aircraft that had been grounded to join the fight. Water-supply problems that had left some fire hydrants dry also seemed to be easing, officials said.

There were no overnight reports of water-supply issues at the Palisades fire, according to Kenichi Haskett, an official with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. He said trucks were transporting water to the site to help address shortages.

Mark Pestrella, director of Los Angeles County Public Works, said reservoirs were full and at the ready to help firefighters. And some officials expressed a cautious optimism that the worst could be over.

“While we are still facing significant threats, I am hopeful that the tide is turning,” said Kathryn Barger, the chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

But the forecast points to more dangers on the horizon. Todd Hall, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Los Angeles, said that although wind was calmer Thursday, it could pick up again Friday and over the weekend. Strong winds are also possible Monday night into Tuesday, with gusts possibly reaching 80 mph, he said.

More than 100,000 residents have been displaced and many are reeling from the devastation — famous and everyday Angelenos alike. Billy Crystal said the Palisades fire had destroyed the home he and his wife, Janice, had lived in since 1979, and Paris Hilton said she had seen her home in Malibu burn on live television.

In Altadena, home to many working- and middle-class families, Godwin Amafa, 69, said he was using a hose to try to keep his neighbor’s house from burning when his home suddenly caught fire.

“The sheriff came through and said, ‘You have to go or you die,’” he said. He and his wife evacuated in a panic and then returned to the property Wednesday. Their house was gone, burned to the ground.

“All I have left is my clothes and my truck, that’s it,” Amafa said. He pointed to his truck’s license plate holder, which read Beautiful Altadena. “Beautiful Altadena?” he said. “What’s beautiful about it anymore?”

Michele Zack, a historian and writer who has lived in the neighborhood for 40 years, said she and her husband had evacuated and were safe, but that their home, which they painstakingly restored over decades, had been destroyed.

“I didn’t really think our house would burn,” she said, noting that it was at a lower elevation. “We packed up and left, but didn’t pack all the right things. We keep thinking of new things we lost. Why didn’t I bring out the family silver?”

Even in areas untouched by fire, smoke has choked the skies and the rhythms of daily life have been disrupted. Major sporting events have been postponed and cultural life has been put on hold, with musicals and shows canceled and museums such as the Getty Center, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Broad closed to the public. At least 11 school districts in Los Angeles County, including the largest one, the Los Angeles Unified School District, remained closed Thursday, and some will stay closed Friday.

The rapid spread of the fires has led to criticism of Bass, who was in Ghana for the country’s inauguration of its new president when the blazes broke out. At a news conference with other officials Thursday, she got a tough first question from a CBS News reporter, who asked, “What explains this lack of preparation and rapid response?”

Bass said that when the crisis is over, “we will absolutely do an evaluation” to examine the city’s response. “But my focus now is on the lives and on the homes.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.