New West Hills fire prompts more evacuations in California

California continues to battle fires raging in the state for days. With more than 180,000 people evacuated, a new fire outbreak began Thursday in West Hills in the San Fernando Valley, where authorities issued warning orders and evacuated residents in the area.

The Los Angeles Fire Department alerted residents about the fires in the West Hills neighborhood, where approximately 50 acres have burned. Particularly, evacuations occurred on Vanowen St. south to Burbank Blvd. and County Lane Road east to E. Valley Circle Blvd.

West Hills authorities received help from their counterparts in the Pacific Palisades, where over 43 square miles have already burned, leaving behind thousands of homes destroyed.

As for the future of the fires in the most populous state in the country, the National Weather Service in Los Angeles noted that the high alert will continue until Friday morning but that this does not imply lowering the guard. "However, the threat does not end after Friday," meteorologists warned.

Damage estimate

AccuWeather, a private company that provides weather data, set out to estimate the economic impact of these fires.

According to their calculations, economic losses could range between $135 and $150 billion. These figures could still be higher since the fire outbreaks have not been fully controlled, and there could be even more damage.

"We are with you. We're not going anywhere."

President Joe Biden canceled his latest trip abroad and stayed in the country while California battles the worst fires in decades.

At the same time, he announced that the federal government would bear 100% of the costs of fighting the fires for the next 180 days to protect "liberty and property." In addition, he said that during his remaining days in the White House, he will do "everything possible" to help those affected.