USA: Evacuees begin returning home as firefighters battle LA wildfires

W/S Destroyed house, Sylmar neighbourhood, Los Angeles
M/S Burned house and car
M/S Warning on house
M/S Burned roof of house
W/S LA fire service command centre
SOT, Chris Reade, LA County Fire Department Captain: "This fire it's so far 7,554 acres, 19 percent contained. Those numbers are changing throughout the day. We have seen slow progression of the fire throughout the day, so we don't expect these numbers to grow too much, except for the containment number. We expect it to be a lot higher, as our surveyors come back with numbers throughout the day. So far, nine homes were destroyed, 16 were damaged and in total 32 buildings had some kind of affect to them either being damaged or destroyed."
M/S Burned house *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Chris Reade, LA County Fire Department Captain: "We are repopulating the areas. So, those areas where the fire was running through neighbourhoods, we feel comfortable enough allowing people to go back home. The fire is mostly burning in the forest now. We do have those aircraft dropping fire retardants as well as water. And crews on the ground are identifying those areas that need to be dropped on. So it's going to be a few more days the fire fight out in that area but we are comfortable allowing people to go home. So it's - that is a sense of relief for us."
M/S American Red Cross poster on post
W/S Entrance to Red Cross shelter
W/S Camp beds set up inside Red Cross shelter
SOT, Cary Van Ausdall, Red Cross employee at Sylmar shelter (English): "In this area, in the Sylmar area, the mandatory evacuation orders have been lifted at this point. Things are always changing but at this point many of them can go back into their homes. Some, if they're part of an apartment, might have to wait a little bit longer until their apartments have been re-checked out to make sure they're safe to go back to."
M/S Van Ausdall at shelter
W/S Food and drinks table in shelter
M/S Resident Elizabeth Terry
SOT, Elizabeth Terry, Resident (English): "We were evacuated. I live in Hope Gardens, it's a boarding home. And apparently they felt that the fire was getting too close, so they evacuated us Thursday night. So I've been here, let's see, today is Saturday, so Thursday night there was no shelter set up. So I went to the sheriff's station in La Crescenta and they said 'we are sorry, but you cannot stay here in a lobby.' So I sat in my car till 8 o'clock in the morning."
M/S Food and drinks table in shelter
C/U Food and water on table in shelter
M/S Entrance
SCRIPT
Thousands of San Fernando Valley residents in Los Angeles County, California, were allowed to return home after evacuation orders were lifted on Saturday.
Footage from the northern Sylmar neighbourhood of Los Angeles shows the burnt out homes and cars left in the wake of the Saddleridge Fire, one of several wildfires blazing on the northern periphery of the city.
Speaking in the aftermath of the conflagration, Captain Chris Reade from LA County Fire Department said: "So far, nine homes were destroyed, 16 were damaged and in total 32 buildings had some kind of affect to them either being damaged or destroyed."
At least one person has reportedly died as a result of the Saddleridge Fire which has blazed through "7,554 acres" according to Reade.
He continued: "The fire is mostly burning in the forest now. We do have those aircraft dropping fire retardants as well as water. And crews on the ground are identifying those areas that need to be dropped on. So it's going to be a few more days the fire fight out in that area but we are comfortable allowing people to go home. So it's - that is a sense of relief for us."
Due to dry seasonal winds and hot weather conditions, multiple wildfires have broke out near and around northern Los Angeles, leading California's governor Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency in the affected areas.