A Red Flag warning remained in effect in parts of Southern California for a second straight day as strong, gusty winds toppled trees, downed power lines and prompted concerns over increased fire danger.
The National Weather Service issued the warning in areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties as winds with gusts of up to 50 miles per hour in the mountain areas and up to 40 miles per hour were forecast to hit the region on Monday.
Fierce winds, along with single digit relative humidity, would bring “critical fire weather conditions” to the area, according to the weather service.
Still, the Santa Ana wildfire threat index in L.A., Ventura, Orange and San Diego counties, and the Inland Empire, was “marginal,” according to the U.S. Forest Service.
A wind advisory would remain in effect in much of L.A. and Ventura counties until 3 p.m. Monday.
The Red Flag warning, which was initially scheduled to expire Monday night, has been extended until 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Firefighters have deployed increased personnel because of the heightened fire concern.
“That would include extra staff, about 100 additional firefighters and about 17 fire engines in different locations,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Asst. Fire Chief Timothy Ernst. “We’ve moved fire engines from other parts of the city as well into some of those same fire-prone areas.”
In San Bernardino County on Monday, high winds fanned the flames at a fire at a commercial building in the city of Grand Terrace.
It took firefighters several hours to get the stubborn three-alarm blaze under control.
The building’s roof collapsed, more than 20 vehicles inside were destroyed and one firefighter was injured in the blaze.
On Sunday, several trees came crashing down as a result of the winds, damaging multiple vehicles in the San Fernando Valley, Westwood and other areas.
It also caused outages that left hundreds of residents without power in the overnight hours.
Nearly 200 remained without service Monday morning in Northridge after an outage in the area of Roscoe Boulevard and Jellico Street, according to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Service was expected to be fully restored by 10 a.m.
The weather service also stated that gusty Santa Ana winds were believed to have been a factor in an overturned vessel that prompted a U.S. Coast Guard rescue of two boaters off the coast of Port Hueneme Sunday morning.
KTLA’s Kennedy Ryan contributed to this report.
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