Fueled by hurricane-force wind gusts upward of 100 mph, at least five fires covering tens of thousands of acres raged out of control to the west, north and northeast of downtown Los Angeles with almost zero percent containment as of late Wednesday. At least five deaths and a “high number of significant injuries” were reported, according to officials, as thousands of exhausted firefighters struggled to keep up amid continued severe weather and a diminished water supply. At least 130,000 people across the sprawling metropolitan area were under evacuation orders, while nearly 1.5 million residents were without power. Smoke from the various blazes combined to turn the sky a dark, ominous orange; air quality ranged from unhealthy to hazardous.
