LOS ANGELES--A fast-moving wildfire fueled by dry Pacific winds engulfed houses, roads and wooded areas near Los Angeles on Friday morning, killing at least one person and forcing some 100,000 residents to flee their homes, officials said.
The so-called Saddleridge fire had spread to more than 4,700 acres about 25 miles (40 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles by Friday morning, moving at a rate of 800 acres per hour, the Los Angeles Fire Department said at a news conference.
A man died of cardiac arrest while trying to fight the fire, which erupted just days after power cuts were ordered across the state to prevent wildfires, authorities said. It is still completely uncontained and its cause is under investigation.
Some 23,000 homes and around 100,000 residents were under mandatory evacuation orders Friday morning. The orders were not expected to be lifted for at least a few days, fire department officials said.
"This is a very dynamic fire," Los Angeles Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas told reporters. "Do not wait to leave."
The latest blazes, among about 275 wildfires that have broken out so far this year, come one year after the deadliest and most destructive fire season ever recorded in California, with about 100 residents and firefighters killed in 2018. More than 8,500 wildfires erupted last year, scorching more than 1.8 million acres and causing billions of dollars of damage.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said Friday it had authorized the use of federal funds to assist California in fighting the Saddleridge Fire.
Authorities were also fighting overnight to contain the Sandalwood Fire in Riverside County, which had scorched about 820 acres near Calimesa, about 70 miles east of downtown Los Angeles by Friday morning. It was only 10% contained, Riverside County Fire Department (RCFD) officials said.
