Los Angeles Brush Fire 1/7/25

DaveReinstein said:
Serious question here. Do they not do controlled burns? We do them here in the south to burn off the dead underbrush to attempt to prevent this. Whenever I see pictures of parts of California, I always see tons and tons of dead underbrush
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No. And they havent for decades. I forget the exact reason why, and it may have involved a prescribed burn that got away and they found out that their insurance wasn't up to snuff. Then add in the save the trees people, and if you try and fireproof your property we'll fine you, and here we are.

I remember about 7 or 8 years ago, when President Trump was in office and he threatened Cali to get there act together if they wanted more wildfire federal funds there was a plan put in motion to start prescribed burns under a different set up to reduce liability and they were sending crews out to Montana or someplace like that to learn how to do manage prescribed burns.

But I do agree with you. I live in Florida and they do prescribed burns all the time around here.
 
We must all remember that this kind of situation can happen in more areas than we realize. Any place there are Suburban/Urman Interfaces with wood/brush land this can happen. I wrote a paper during my years in fire science in collage on "Conflagrations" and the situation is worse than years ago. A "Conflagration" is a fire that crosses natural and manmade barriers and spreads from the building/s or complex of origin.
The only hope is mandatory removal of flammables from the area of structures to provide a "Defensible Space" so that firefighters have some chance of saving structures threatened by fire. Rapid Intervention of quick response firefighting vehicles and crews to incept fires is also necessary.
But sometimes, as is now going on in California firefighters may have to put removal of lives in danger ahead of fighting the fire. Sometimes you just cannot do both. God Bless our brothers and sisters in the California Fire Service. Captain Bob Rainey FDNY Engine 26 retired.
 
Captain784 said:
We must all remember that this kind of situation can happen in more areas than we realize. Any place there are Suburban/Urman Interfaces with wood/brush land this can happen. I wrote a paper during my years in fire science in collage on "Conflagrations" and the situation is worse than years ago. A "Conflagration" is a fire that crosses natural and manmade barriers and spreads from the building/s or complex of origin.
The only hope is mandatory removal of flammables from the area of structures to provide a "Defensible Space" so that firefighters have some chance of saving structures threatened by fire. Rapid Intervention of quick response firefighting vehicles and crews to incept fires is also necessary.
But sometimes, as is now going on in California firefighters may have to put removal of lives in danger ahead of fighting the fire. Sometimes you just cannot do both. God Bless our brothers and sisters in the California Fire Service. Captain Bob Rainey FDNY Engine 26 retired.
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Did you mention the Chelsea conflagration in your paper? The Chelsea chief told Newton Fire/Metro that this was a conflagration over the radio. There was a high fire load, numerous rag shops, low water pressure, and a windy day.
 
Captain784 said:
We must all remember that this kind of situation can happen in more areas than we realize. Any place there are Suburban/Urman Interfaces with wood/brush land this can happen. I wrote a paper during my years in fire science in collage on "Conflagrations" and the situation is worse than years ago. A "Conflagration" is a fire that crosses natural and manmade barriers and spreads from the building/s or complex of origin.
The only hope is mandatory removal of flammables from the area of structures to provide a "Defensible Space" so that firefighters have some chance of saving structures threatened by fire. Rapid Intervention of quick response firefighting vehicles and crews to incept fires is also necessary.
But sometimes, as is now going on in California firefighters may have to put removal of lives in danger ahead of fighting the fire. Sometimes you just cannot do both. God Bless our brothers and sisters in the California Fire Service. Captain Bob Rainey FDNY Engine 26 retired.
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What doesn't help either, is that a development is cut out of a Forrest, and plants are chosen for their aesthetic beauty and not functionality. They put highly flammable plants around their houses and wonder why they burn down.

We see pretty big fires in Florida every so often. Not nearly as many as California, I remember 1 fire, the one in Melbourne FL, friend of mine was running a D8 dozer trying to get a line big enough to stop the fire, and he watched it start to rain over the fire, and the fire was so hot, the rain never reached the ground. The fire was creating it's own weather.

Another fire I worked, the one that closed I4 in Lakeland during Superbowl Sunday, in the 90s, was another fire that was so big ( 3 or 4 fire combined to make 1 super fire) was big enough to make it's own weather also.
 
The Palisades fire is now more than 11,000 acres, with 0% containment:

From the LA City FD:

"Update Brush Fire - PALISADES FIRE 01/08/2025 INC#0738​

Update Brush Fire - PALISADES FIRE; INC#0738; 12:00PM; https://lafd.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Media/index.html?appid=ba8cfed4b4a04d49b7489eb8300727a8; Pacific Palisades; Palisades Fire acreage updated to 11, 082 with no containment. While we are not yet able to conduct an assessment of structures damaged, based on the footprint of the burn area, it is estimated over 1,000 affected. Evacuation orders remain in place with the interactive map linked above.; Margaret Stewart"
 
RCL said:
No. And they havent for decades. I forget the exact reason why, and it may have involved a prescribed burn that got away and they found out that their insurance wasn't up to snuff. Then add in the save the trees people, and if you try and fireproof your property we'll fine you, and here we are.

I remember about 7 or 8 years ago, when President Trump was in office and he threatened Cali to get there act together if they wanted more wildfire federal funds there was a plan put in motion to start prescribed burns under a different set up to reduce liability and they were sending crews out to Montana or someplace like that to learn how to do manage prescribed burns.

But I do agree with you. I live in Florida and they do prescribed burns all the time around here.
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Yes I do remember that. That video has been making the rounds today
 
DaveReinstein said:
Just read an article that Mayor Bass cut the FD budget by around 17 million. With the history of fires in CA and around LA this seems like a dumb move
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It wasn't 17 million, it was $23 million.

Latest:

* Mandatory evacuations for more than 80,000 people.
*The Palisades Fire has already burned through more than 15,800 acres.
* The Eaton Fire has exploded to 10,600 acres.
* The Hurst Fire has affected 505 acres
* The Woodley Fire stands at 30 acres.
* All four fires are 0% contained.
* The Los Angeles County fire chief said an estimated 1,000 structures have been destroyed in the Palisades Fire.
* Air quality has reached hazardous levels in several Los Angeles and Pasadena neighborhoods because of smoke from the fires, according
to the Environmental Protection Agency’s air quality index.
* More than 1.5 million customers are without power in Southern California
* There are now water supply problems, at least with the Palisades Fire
* Firefighting resources from Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state are deploying to southern California
* New York state and Florida have offered to deploy resources.
* The Los Angeles wildfires could result in $10 billion of insured losses, according to a preliminary review by J.P. Morgan’s insurance
analysts.

And here's the most important thing about the fires :rolleyes: :poop::eek::eek::eek::unsure::unsure::cautious::cautious:: "The devastating wildfires that continue to ravage the celebrity-filled enclave of Pacific Palisades and other areas have forced a movie and TV production shutdown across Los Angeles, as well as the cancelation of a number of key award season events that were set to take place this week. (How are we ever going to survive??)
 
jlab said:
See NYT article about lack of water in tank fed hydrant system. Not just low pressure but NO WATER ! NADA ! ZIP ! DRY AS A BONE ! Maybe they will need to start drafting from the ocean if they have the capacity to do that.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/0...ck-of-water-has-hindered-firefighting-efforts
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From what I’ve been reading the
jlab said:
See NYT article about lack of water in tank fed hydrant system. Not just low pressure but NO WATER ! NADA ! ZIP ! DRY AS A BONE ! Maybe they will need to start drafting from the ocean if they have the capacity to do that.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/0...ck-of-water-has-hindered-firefighting-efforts
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From what I’ve been reading the
Mismanaging of that state is horrifying. Cut the FD budget by 17 million, sending equipment to Ukraine, zero water, mayor is in Africa and the most surprising, wanting Californians to use state fire insurance which is significantly higher than private. That’s why the insurance companies left. Unbelievable
 
raybrag said:
It wasn't 17 million, it was $23 million.

Latest:

* Mandatory evacuations for more than 80,000 people.
*The Palisades Fire has already burned through more than 15,800 acres.
* The Eaton Fire has exploded to 10,600 acres.
* The Hurst Fire has affected 505 acres
* The Woodley Fire stands at 30 acres.
* All four fires are 0% contained.
* The Los Angeles County fire chief said an estimated 1,000 structures have been destroyed in the Palisades Fire.
* Air quality has reached hazardous levels in several Los Angeles and Pasadena neighborhoods because of smoke from the fires, according
to the Environmental Protection Agency’s air quality index.
* More than 1.5 million customers are without power in Southern California
* There are now water supply problems, at least with the Palisades Fire
* Firefighting resources from Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state are deploying to southern California
* New York state and Florida have offered to deploy resources.
* The Los Angeles wildfires could result in $10 billion of insured losses, according to a preliminary review by J.P. Morgan’s insurance
analysts.

And here's the most important thing about the fires :rolleyes: :poop::eek::eek::eek::unsure::unsure::cautious::cautious:: "The devastating wildfires that continue to ravage the celebrity-filled enclave of Pacific Palisades and other areas have forced a movie and TV production shutdown across Los Angeles, as well as the cancelation of a number of key award season events that were set to take place this week. (How are we ever going to survive??)
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reports of some scattered looting.
 
DaveReinstein said:
From what I’ve been reading the

From what I’ve been reading the
Mismanaging of that state is horrifying. Cut the FD budget by 17 million, sending equipment to Ukraine, zero water, mayor is in Africa and the most surprising, wanting Californians to use state fire insurance which is significantly higher than private. That’s why the insurance companies left. Unbelievable
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23 million dollar cut. But your points are spot on
 
grumpy grizzly said:
Well you cannot get hurricane insurance in FL, what do you think fire insurance in CA will be like, if it is available.
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California has the fifth LOWEST property insurance rates in the country Fact check it! Defies logic but demonstrates how corrupt the Florida governor and legislature are in Fla. I have been touting that fact for several years now way before these fires.
 
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