No emergency outages after Santa Ana winds prompted Southern California fire danger warnings
Maggie Fick is a freelance reporter based in Southern California who writes about a wide range of topics. She has reported from Vietnam, California and New York in the past, and has worked as a reporter at a number of different publications and online. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Village Voice, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Daily Beast. She has also contributed to the New York Daily News, The Root, and other publications. This is the fourth article listed in the “Maggie’s News” series. View more posts.
After a few hours of sustained dry weather over the weekend, Santa Ana winds returned to Southern California on Monday morning. The fires currently burning across Southern California are now at their second day in an unprecedented, multi-agency emergency, according to the California National Guard, state and county fire agencies and the governor’s office.
In addition to those at risk of heat exhaustion, the dangerous heat is making dehydration a likely ailment in many of the people living and working in the region, according to state health officials.
The heat and dry winds are “really, really hazardous for people’s health,” said Mark Ghilarducci, director of the Environmental Health Unit of the California Department of Public Health’s Division of Occupational and Environmental Health. He said he hoped that the extreme heat would “cause some people to take actions to protect themselves” — such as covering up — rather than stay indoors.
In Los Angeles County, fire officials urged the public to take steps to stay cool, including closing windows and turning off air conditioners if they’re needed in their homes during the heat. Officials urged people to drink more water and restock their water filters.
The number of people in shelters is also growing, and officials urged people to check in on those in shelters as the weather and their health both improve, Ghilarducci said.
On a more personal level, Ghilarducci offered this advice for those suffering heat-related issues:
“This is a situation that all parents should understand is that you should not leave children unattended when it’s very hot
