PHL asks Pinoys in path of California wildfires to heed evacuation order

The Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday called on the Filipino Community in California who are in the path of at least three raging wildfires to heed the evacuation order of local authorities.

In a report to the Home Office in Manila, Consul General Henry Bensurto said the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco has not received any reports of Filipino casualties from the blaze that required the evacuation of more than 300,000 residents.

Bensurto advised the estimated 1.3 million members of the Filipino Community in California to continuously monitor the situation and contact the consulates in San Francisco and Los Angeles in case of emergency.

The DFA issued the security advisory as it expressed its condolences to the families of the 31 people killed by the wildfires that are said to be the most destructive in California’s history.

The Camp fire, which has been ravaging both ends of California since Thursday, has burned 44,900 hectares in Northern California and is 25 percent contained as of Sunday morning.

In Los Angeles, Consul General Angelito Cruz said the consulate has alerted more than 25,000 members of the Filipino community in Ventura County about the fires that has left at least five people dead in that area.

The DFA said the Woolsey Fire, which has spread to 33,600 hectares, is 10 percent contained while the Hill Fire, which covered 1,800 hectares, is 75 percent contained. — Michaela del Callar/RSJ, GMA News