Alberta resources on standby as wildfires devastate southern California

Water is dropped by helicopter on the burning Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills section of Los Angeles, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (Ethan Swope / Associated Press) (Ethan Swope/AP)

Alberta’s premier says the province is preparing to support California fight a series of wildfires tearing through the Los Angeles area.

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Alberta will send an incident command team, as well as water bombers and night-vision helicopters to California, and is working with the federal government and Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre to assess what the state needs.

“Good neighbours are always there for each other in times of need, and we will assist our American friends in any way they need during this crisis,” Smith wrote on social media.

A spokesman for Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday the province has not yet been asked to send firefighting resources to California.

The major fires continue to burn in densely populated areas around the city of Los Angeles and have killed at least five people, damaged thousands of structures, ravaged communities from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena and sent thousands of people frantically fleeing their homes.

The exact death toll from the fires remained unclear Thursday morning, but the total is expected to rise as crews begin to search the rubble.

Many of the towering fires that began Tuesday were fueled by powerful Santa Ana winds, which gusted to more than 112 km/h in some spots. The winds dropped Thursday, but the U.S. National Weather Service warned that even the reduced gusts could still spread fire rapidly. The wind is expected to strengthen again Thursday evening. Another round of strong winds may form next week.

Joel Tambaoan, a Pasadena resident who grew up in Edmonton, told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday he and his pregnant wife are avoiding leaving their home and are considering heading south to San Diego to stay with his in-laws if the fires continue.

He said tap-water advisories have led to lineups at local stores for bottled water.

“Right now, we’re really just trying to take care of ourselves, stock up with water and getting ready to leave,” he said.

“You want to reach out and help others, but you also want to take care of yourself.”

Tambaoan said in recent years when wildfires ravaged the area, flames had been limited to the mountains. Now that they’ve devastated neighbourhoods close to him, it’s become real.

“Places that we go to, places that we drive by are now gone. Houses are gone. People that we know, their houses are gone,” he said. “It’s a very sad situation, and this is just in our area.”

The fires filled the air with smoke and ash, prompting air and dust advisories for 17 million people across a vast stretch of Southern California, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

AccuWeather, a private company that provides data on weather and its impact, estimated Wednesday that $52 billion to $57 billion in preliminary damage and economic loss has occurred but the fires continue to burn.

Edmonton travel agent Hidar Elmais of Travel Gurus has been updating clients who are en route to the Los Angeles area or who have a trip booked soon.

“West Hollywood has been impacted, that’s where Universal Studios is. The City Walk is also there,” Elmais told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday.

“Many of those tourist areas that people were planning to go to are just not going to be accessible now.”

While tourist attractions such as Disneyland in nearby Anaheim are still open, Elmais said several clients are re-booking, which is a smooth process if they bought travel insurance.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson and The Associated Press