CA - Pacific Palisades - 30,000 People Ordered to Evacuate From L.A. Wildfires

[Herat]

There is a large air tanker up over the Palisades Fire: A Type 1 VLAT
Clearly there are issues that are not yet resolved, in the face of more Red Flag winds.

"AI Overview
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A Type 1 VLAT airtanker is a large, fixed-wing aircraft that can carry over 8,000 gallons of fire retardant and is used to fight wildfires. VLAT stands for Very Large Airtanker.

 

[Herat]

THIS MAKES ME MAD

"Law enforcement has been requested immediate need to the Topanga Canyon Rd area to help with evacuating civilians that are impeding firefighting operations - per radio trafficE MAD"

"Additional air and ground resources have been requested into the Topanga Canyon Rd area due structures being immediately threatened by increased fire activity - per radio traffic."

Topanga Canyon was very much a mandatory evacuation area since the beginning and yet, now LE is having to rouse people out of their homes and get their buttocks out there.

Watch Duty - Wildfire Maps & Alerts

Real-time information about wildfire and firefighting efforts nearby

app.watchduty.org

Topanga · California

California

www.google.com

 

[charminglane]

Under these extreme wind conditions arsonists can get a thrill starting fires. It can also be a cigarette, careless use of tools among other things. I’m inclined to go with arsonists. Everyone knows that when the Santa Ana winds blow, a fire will take off quickly. Some sick people think that’s exciting.

Where the Eaton Fire first appeared - near the assisted living on Washington that was evacuated? That area backs up in a triangle area to a wash where the L.A. County Public Works trucks are stored.
This is my suspicion only. Unintentional work spark, tossed cig, bad conditions.
Or a worker/family member on a break from assisted living with a tossed ciggie butt.

 

[Charlot123]

On Thursday, Jan 9, Hajime White, who lives in Warren, Ark., recalled to The Washington Post the last phone call she shared with her dad, 67-year-old retiree Anthony Mitchell

Mitchell had been waiting for an ambulance to come for them, but it never arrived, according to The Washington Post. White said that authorities told the family Mitchell was found by the side of his son’s bed. The family believes Mitchell was trying to save him.

[...]
White told the Post she had fond memories of her dad, a father of four, grandfather of 11 and great-grandfather of 10.

"He had nicknames for everybody: Strawberry Shortcake, Marshmallow, Bug," she recalled. "He just went on and on."

Justin sometimes struggled with his cerebral palsy, White added, but he used a computer to read and communicate with others.

“He was not going to leave his son behind. No matter what," White said of her dad, according to The New York Post.

Father Missing a Limb and Son with Cerebral Palsy Weren't Able to Evacuate L.A. Fires in Time, Family Says
Father Missing a Limb and Son with Cerebral Palsy Weren't Able to Evacuate L.A. Fires in Time, Family Says

Sorry i don't know anything about LA mayor perhaps she is great but when the leaders are absent in another country, it never helps

Mayor’s Absence Is Considered a Sign L.A. Underestimated Fire Risks

Some residents said Mayor Karen Bass should have canceled her trip to Ghana when weather warnings in Los Angeles grew increasingly dire.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Elley Mae]

LA Mayor Bass rejects FDNY’s offer to help — despite not having enough firefighters to battle blazes still raging: sources

Exclusive | LA Mayor Bass rejects FDNY’s offer to help — despite not having enough firefighters to battle blazes still raging: sources

LA Mayor Karen Bass rebuffed an offer by the FDNY to help try to contain the area’s deadly fires — even though California officials have said they don’t have enough firefighters themselves, sources…

nypost.com

 

[SouthAussie]

Sorry i don't know anything about LA mayor perhaps she is great but when the leaders are absent in another country, it never helps

Mayor’s Absence Is Considered a Sign L.A. Underestimated Fire Risks

Some residents said Mayor Karen Bass should have canceled her trip to Ghana when weather warnings in Los Angeles grew increasingly dire.

www.nytimes.com

I hardly think it is a problem. If the firefighters, the police, and the state's leader didn't know how to do their jobs while a mayor is away on official business (before the fires started) that would be a problem. She returned as quickly as possible, on a military plane.

Now is not the time for these people to be taking political potshots.

imo

 

[slowpoke]

I can say that in 49 years of living here this month from PA, that it was the first time I really ever felt the need to flee.
The winds were coming from the north, so they wrecked everything on their way down.
I laid on the couch every evening keeping watch at the glow to the west. Seriously, I was up for 60 hours straight. In the night, it is hard to judge distance. When I saw flames, I called my parents and yelled to get a bag packed to go. They were out before the door knock and official orders. We were out of my house before that, too.
The ride back from the hotel, as I look up at the mountains that are now brown. You all have been able to see it on tv. I am seeing it all with fresh eyes.
I'm an Information Professional, and to be without facts, intimate descriptions, or photos is indescribable.

I’m so glad you’ve checked in here to give us your updates, as I did recall that you had some connection with the Altadena area from past posts.
I’m glad you are ‘ok’, though I am sure the destruction of all your familiar places is giving you a sorrowful, devastating feeling. I’m so sorry.

 

[iamshadow21]

Undocumented immigrants were amongst those rallying to help save the homes of people who were strangers to them in Altadena.

California wildfires live updates: firefighters battle Los Angeles blazes as governor orders water inquiry

Gavin Newsom orders investigation into wildfire water supply as Joe Biden likens destruction to ‘war scene’

www.theguardian.com

“You don’t need to have legal papers or be a US citizen to help others."

 

[SouthAussie]

LA Mayor Bass rejects FDNY’s offer to help — despite not having enough firefighters to battle blazes still raging: sources

Exclusive | LA Mayor Bass rejects FDNY’s offer to help — despite not having enough firefighters to battle blazes still raging: sources

LA Mayor Karen Bass rebuffed an offer by the FDNY to help try to contain the area’s deadly fires — even though California officials have said they don’t have enough firefighters themselves, sources…

nypost.com

"..... fighting wildfires is “a whole different beast” that requires special training, as opposed to putting out blazes in buildings, which is typical fare for the FDNY."

"California Gov. Gavin Newsom accepted help from Mexico...... while extra firefighters from Colorado, New Mexico and Utah flocked to the state to help Thursday."

(from your link)

 

[ErinC]

One of my friends and his wife are in Glendale- as of the last I spoke to him they didn't have any type of evacuation going on but it wasn't at all certain if it would stay that way. I hate being on the opposite coast and not being able to do anything to help them- or anyone affected, for that matter.

 

[LittleSeaTree]

No, Palisades and Malibu to the west are a series of north-south canyons and ridges that are excellent at funneling Santa Ana winds down in a rushing vortex to the sea. It's almost like an accordion in terms of topography. At the bottom of many of these canyons are road and houses, often with ranch-type property where people keep horses for trail riding. At the top of the ridges are trails for hiking and horseback riding. These are really prized areas for the privacy, amount of land available, and exclusiveness of them. However, they have terrible fire risks for the topography. The more glitzy Pacific Palisades you saw before the fire was an area where the ridge was wider and it was much easier to build on, plus the stunningly beautiful Pacific Ocean views were extremely desirable. The first disaster footage from Palisades showed how there was only one road to get from the lower, flatter residential areas to the higher residential areas. Pacific Palisades road was two lanes in each direction, but there were no side roads to go around so firefighters were trying to go up and panicked residents were trying to flee going down. To the east, there was a "fire road" that ran from the upper Palisades to the lower Palisades. From the google images, it looks not well-maintained, with cracked pavement and at least one area where there might be bollards on it. It would be unusable also because, tragically, it was on the side where the fire started and would have been in the middle of the flames as they pushed downhill. There looks to be a metal gate at the south end of the fire road that makes it impossible to get farther south to evacuate.

The Pacific Palisades Road on the left of the image, with the barely visible fire road to the right, near the Pacific Hills Recreation Center tag.

Pacific Palisades road

www.google.com

Zoomed in on the Fire Road

Pacific Palisades road

www.google.com

At this level of a Google topography map, you can clearly see the parallel ridges and canyons.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

Thank you for your continued wealth of knowledge! What would we do without you, seriously!

 

[iamshadow21]

Galen Buckwalter, a wheelchair user, had to take to the chaotic and dangerous streets to escape the Eaton fire, as his adapted van was in for repair. He couldn't order a wheelchair accessible uber to his house in the evacuation zone, so he had no choice but to travel over a mile on footpaths and roads as the fire bore down relentlessly to reach a place where he could call one.

Fleeing the LA fires alone on a wheelchair: ‘I had to take my chances’

An evacuation order when the Eaton fire threatened Galen Buckwalter’s Sierra Madre home triggered a nightmare odyssey through chaotic streets

www.theguardian.com

 

[iamshadow21]

Death toll is now eleven.

https://www.cnn.com/weather/live-news/los-angeles-wildfires-palisades-eaton-california-01-10-25-hnk#cm5rarvbz0000356pdfhcb8d1

 

[iamshadow21]

Looks like the threat to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been contained, they're just "mopping up" (soaking down) the area to make sure.

https://www.cnn.com/weather/live-news/los-angeles-wildfires-palisades-eaton-california-01-10-25-hnk#cm5r8xbas000i3b6ouerflkfa

 

[Lusitana]

OMG, this is barely 150 feet from the site where LAFD is saying the fire started. WOW

And another locked gate at the top of the Fire Road in Pacific Palisades. How would you get through that with fierce winds, blowing embers at your back, billowing smoke obscuring your view of the track of the road, and 500 other cars loaded with panicked residents behind you?

And who has the ability to unlock the gates at the top and bottom of the fire road?

Street View · Google Maps

Explore a place in a more immersive way in Google Maps.

www.google.com

Might be a private road of some sort? Entering and leaving seems controlled by those gates, meaning, not everyone is supposed to be hanging around there.

 

[iamshadow21]

Pasadena Jewish Temple was destroyed, but their Torah scrolls were saved.

https://www.cnn.com/weather/live-news/los-angeles-wildfires-palisades-eaton-california-01-10-25-hnk#cm5r2hlvt00003b6orzpb2qmx

“We are doing something very Jewish, which is both grieving and being optimistic for the future.”

 

[iamshadow21]

Florence Kerns-Wilson, her wife, and their two year old daughter had just moved into their home before Christmas. They escaped with their cats, but lost everything.

https://www.cnn.com/weather/live-news/los-angeles-wildfires-palisades-eaton-california-01-10-25-hnk#cm5qtnbet00003b6oxmuj78q0

 

[iamshadow21]

Mexico has joined Canada in sending firefighters to the US to help Los Angeles.

https://www.cnn.com/weather/live-news/los-angeles-wildfires-palisades-eaton-california-01-10-25-hnk#cm5r91wdo000i3b6orhnucfs1

 

[iamshadow21]

An article about some of the victims, with pictures.

This clarifies that Erliene Kelley and Brianna Navarro's grandmother are one and the same person.

What we know about the victims killed in the California wildfires

At least 29 people have died in the fires across the Los Angeles area.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[ASipowicz]

Just heard from a coworker, she is devastated. She is very close to a family of 5 in Palisades, they spent six hours hosing down the house, but to no avail, house is now gone. The oldest family member is 87. All they have left are the clothes they wore when leaving. Just one little story among thousands of others ...