During Los Angeles visit, President Biden briefed on deadly wildfires that burned over 20K acres

During his visit to Los Angeles, President Joe Biden was briefed Wednesday morning by local law enforcement and fire officials on three wildfires which have killed five people and injured several others as powerful winds carried them across over 20,000 acres.

More than 80,000 people have been forced to flee from their homes as the three fires led to mandatory evacuations, before burning more than 1,100 structures completely to the ground including several homes. But authorities have warned the battle for firefighters is far from over — forecasts of more powerful winds could further complicate their efforts and spread the flames even further.

"What we saw here in the last 24 hours is unprecedented," Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell told President Biden during a briefing a Santa Monica fire station Wednesday, where local fire officials met with Biden and Gov. Gavin Newsom.

"I've never seen anything like this — fires driven by the type of winds that we saw, up to 100 miles per hour," McDonnell said.

Forecasters warned of a "life-threatening and destructive" windstorm bringing damaging gusts to much of Southern California, along with other weather conditions increasing the risks of wildfires sparking and quickly spreading. Hundreds of firefighters were sent down from Northern California, as well as other counties in the Southland, as authorities braced for the dangerous conditions. 

Federal emergency assistance has been granted for all three major wildfires. In the San Fernando Valley, the Hurst Fire burned 500 acres as of noon Wednesday while the other two blazes have torn across a much larger distance and left behind widespread devastation, including the deaths of two people and wounding of several others.

Five people died in the Eaton Fire in northeast Los Angeles County, which has led to the evacuation of more than 50,000 people in areas including Pasadena and Altadena since sparking just after 6 p.m. Tuesday. Forty miles away in west LA, in the affluent coastal community of Pacific Palisades, about 37,000 people were evacuated from their homes as the blaze spread.

On Wednesday, the two wildfires — situated on opposite sides of the sprawling 4,000 square miles encompassing Los Angeles County — exploded in size. By noon, the Eaton Fire reached 10,600 acres while the Palisades Fire burned through 11,800 acres.

"We're doing everything we can to protect life first and property next," Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said during the briefing with President Biden.

At least 1,000 structures were destroyed in the Palisades Fire while another 100 were burned to the ground in the Eaton Fire. 

The National Weather Service has said the windstorm Southern California is facing this week is likely the worst the region has seen since 2011, when a storm led to $40 million in damage left in Los Angeles County and more than 400,000 people losing power.

In addition to other parts of California, firefighters are also being sent in from other states such as Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, authorities said. The White House released a statement from Biden Tuesday saying his administration "will do everything it can to support" the emergency response efforts.

"Firefighters from those regions are on their way down to Los Angeles County right now to assist us," LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone told Biden during Wednesday's briefing.