“Since those winds have calmed down this morning, I believe we can make some progress, turn a corner, and start building something on these fires,” Cal Fire Chief Brent Pascua said. The Today Show on Thursday.
So far disaster response has been marred by disinformation and controversy. After firefighting equipment ran dry, president-elect Donald Trump accused California governor Gavin Newsom of mismanaging the state’s waters to save endangered fish.
City crews have been able to access three water tanks in the hills near the Palisades Fire to increase pressure. That allows the tanks to be refilled quickly so they can continue to supply water, Stewart said. Each tank can hold 1 million liters. He says: “We have full running water pipes.
Other firefighters have started arriving from Utah, Oregon, Arizona, Washington, and New Mexico. Several squads are on the way, according to Stewart, each with five firefighters and a command vehicle.
Flights started flying again on Wednesday. A dozen helicopters fill funny buckets of water hanging from ropes and suck up sea water with snorkels. Six planes are also working on the fires, including a “super scoop” plane that has been diving over the Pacific Ocean to collect water. Helicopters and scoop planes drop water on existing fires, allowing firefighters to cover and extinguish them.
Meanwhile, other planes drop flame retardants ahead of the inferno, covering potential fuel with a layer of non-combustible chemicals and slowing its development. The C-130 cargo plane that Cal Fire acquired from the Coast Guard and retrofitted this summer can drop 4,000 gallons of retardant. That buys time for firefighters to dig and drill fire hydrants in the bare soil.
As the ocean pushes the Palisades Fire to the south, responders will try to keep it from moving east or west. “The real spread will be marginal,” Pimlott said.
A red flag warning for increased fire danger will remain in place until Friday, with only 8-12 percent humidity. California has been experiencing an unusually severe winter, with 40 percent of the state under drought conditions.
“Fuels are always very dry,” Cal Fire’s James Magana said at a Thursday morning briefing. “You can expect to see serious levels of spread, especially on those ridgetops or those plumes that are associated with the wind.”
On Saturday, the winds are expected to reverse. If the firefighters are not ready, the heel of the fire can be ahead and escape to the north.
Even if they are able to contain the fire outbreak within the circle of fire extinguishers and natural barriers, that will not be the end of the job. Firefighters will have to put out small fires in that area.
“That’s a critical stage, to tap these hot spots or anything that could reactivate if the winds were to pick up again,” Upton said.
Moving forward, the city will need to clean up the debris, restore services, and assess the damage to the environment before allowing people to move back. With the ravines depleted of trees and vegetation, mudslides may become a threat when the rains return.
Los Angeles will face the prospect of rebuilding devastated communities. That’s an opportunity to make them less vulnerable to the next fire, said Max Moritz, a wildfire specialist at the University of California Cooperative Extension.
Although homes are generally required to be constructed of fireproof materials, California law is not specific about how they should be laid. Strategies such as grouping homes together rather than spreading them between trees can make it easier to protect against fire, and easier to evacuate, he says.
“That’s part of the hope here, that we can do some of this better, smarter, and safer,” Moritz said.
Updated 1-10-2024 1:10 GMT: The number of destroyed buildings has been updated.
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