With Santa Ana winds bringing red-flag fire danger to Southern California, the Los Angeles Police Department plans to remove some homeless people from camps in high-risk areas.
LAPD spokesman Josh Rubenstein said the removals will take place Wednesday night and Thursday. Officials did not release specific locations.
The city earlier this year passed an ordinance that makes it easier to clear homeless camps during fire danger periods. The National Weather Service has issued red-flag warnings for parts of Southern California, saying there is a “critical fire danger” Thursday and Friday.
Los Angeles is particularly vulnerable to fires that start in hard-to-reach areas and then spread. In December 2017, for example, the Skirball fire was sparked by a cooking fire at a homeless encampment in a canyon several hundred feet from Sepulveda Boulevard and the 405 Freeway, hidden from passing cars.