Palisades Fire live updates: Wildfires spread in Los Angeles, prompting mandatory evacuations, as Santa Ana winds expected to intensify

[Vambram]

Kristin Crowley was elevated to Los Angeles fire chief in 2022 at a time of turmoil in a department consumed by complaints of rampant hazing, harassment and discrimination among its 3,400-member ranks. As a career firefighter, she was portrayed by the then-mayor as a stabilizing force.

Three years later, the mood between Crowley and City Hall has changed.
The wildfire in Pacific Palisades that has burned more than 5,000 structures to become the most destructive in city history has put leaders on the defensive and led Crowley to engage in a public spat with Mayor Karen Bass over resources even as the battle against flames continues across the Los Angeles area.

Crowley publicly criticized the city Friday for budget cuts that she said have made it harder for firefighters to do their jobs at a time when they are seeing more calls. She also cast blame on the city for water running out Tuesday when about 20% of the hydrants tapped to fight the Palisades fire went dry.

“I'm not a politician, I’m a public servant. It’s my job as the fire chief for Los Angeles city fire dept to make sure our firefighters have exactly what they need to do their jobs,” she told CNN.

Her comments and perceived falling-out with Bass prompted so much speculation about her job security that the union issued a statement Friday assuring rank-and-file members that she had not been fired.

The following day the mayor sought to tamp down the tension.

LA's fire chief is at the center of a public spat with City Hall as wildfires rage

Kristin Crowley was elevated to Los Angeles fire chief in 2022 at a time of turmoil in a department consumed by complaints of rampant hazing, harassment and discrimination among its 3,400-member ranks. As a career firefighter, she was portrayed by the then-mayor as a stabilizing force. Three...

www.yahoo.com

 

[Vambram]

'Literally Like Armageddon': Critics Say Gov't Failures Fueled Inferno, Californians Search for Faith

The devastation from the Los Angeles wildfires continues to wreak havoc. The two biggest fires have killed at least 10 people and burned more than 10,000 buildings. The fires are expected to cause up to $150 billion in damages making this one of the most expensive natural disasters in U.S. history. Residents describe the devastation as apocalyptic. The fire in Pacific Palisades is now the most destructive in Los Angeles history, leveling entire blocks and reducing buildings to rubble.

"Right now, thank the Lord, I am safe and I still have power," said TV Host and actress Kym Douglas.

Douglas lives just a few minutes from the Palisades.

"So I go there every day and I get my coffee in the morning and I do my errands. I do my grocery shopping there, and it literally is like Armageddon. The City of Angels has turned into a war zone and everything is flattened. So many friends have lost everything. And the saddest part is they didn't even have a moment to grab their mementos, their memories, their children's books and files or passports, nothing," she said.

On Thursday, the Santa Ana winds weakened a bit allowing firefighters to dump water from the air. There's a bit more good news too – the Sunset Fire that started in the Hollywood Hills Wednesday night, threatening iconic landmarks, has been fully contained.

Did Government Failures Fuel the Inferno?

Meanwhile, many are outraged that their city wasn't more prepared, blaming Gov. Gavin Newsom for the lack of water, including no water pressure in some fire hydrants.
Edward Ring with the California Policy Center says this could have been minimized with proper land management, including the harvesting and thinning of trees.

"And all of those things were regulated to the point where it's just such an unreasonable process for property owners to try to do that, that we ended up turning those hillsides into tinder boxes," he said.

As for the lack of water, he said, "We could have opened a lot more fire hydrants and had good pressure before we lost pressure. The water mains that go up into those hills and the pumps that lift the water into those hills should be bigger. And what we've seen over the last several decades is a trend towards sending less water south into the southern California cities and encouraging those cities and in many cases, mandating through legislation that those cities just get by with less water."

'Literally Like Armageddon': Critics Say Gov't Failures Fueled Inferno, Californians Search for Faith

The devastation from the Los Angeles wildfires continues to wreak havoc.

cbn.com

 

[BPPLEE]

'Literally Like Armageddon': Critics Say Gov't Failures Fueled Inferno, Californians Search for Faith

The devastation from the Los Angeles wildfires continues to wreak havoc. The two biggest fires have killed at least 10 people and burned more than 10,000 buildings. The fires are expected to cause up to $150 billion in damages making this one of the most expensive natural disasters in U.S. history. Residents describe the devastation as apocalyptic. The fire in Pacific Palisades is now the most destructive in Los Angeles history, leveling entire blocks and reducing buildings to rubble.

"Right now, thank the Lord, I am safe and I still have power," said TV Host and actress Kym Douglas.

Douglas lives just a few minutes from the Palisades.

"So I go there every day and I get my coffee in the morning and I do my errands. I do my grocery shopping there, and it literally is like Armageddon. The City of Angels has turned into a war zone and everything is flattened. So many friends have lost everything. And the saddest part is they didn't even have a moment to grab their mementos, their memories, their children's books and files or passports, nothing," she said.

On Thursday, the Santa Ana winds weakened a bit allowing firefighters to dump water from the air. There's a bit more good news too – the Sunset Fire that started in the Hollywood Hills Wednesday night, threatening iconic landmarks, has been fully contained.

Did Government Failures Fuel the Inferno?

Meanwhile, many are outraged that their city wasn't more prepared, blaming Gov. Gavin Newsom for the lack of water, including no water pressure in some fire hydrants.
Edward Ring with the California Policy Center says this could have been minimized with proper land management, including the harvesting and thinning of trees.

"And all of those things were regulated to the point where it's just such an unreasonable process for property owners to try to do that, that we ended up turning those hillsides into tinder boxes," he said.

As for the lack of water, he said, "We could have opened a lot more fire hydrants and had good pressure before we lost pressure. The water mains that go up into those hills and the pumps that lift the water into those hills should be bigger. And what we've seen over the last several decades is a trend towards sending less water south into the southern California cities and encouraging those cities and in many cases, mandating through legislation that those cities just get by with less water."

'Literally Like Armageddon': Critics Say Gov't Failures Fueled Inferno, Californians Search for Faith

The devastation from the Los Angeles wildfires continues to wreak havoc.

cbn.com

 

[DaisyDay]

We have controlled burns here. Because we have hurricanes, we have crews constantly searching for and removing dead and dangerous trees and brush.

You're talking about Florida, right? Your location says USA not New Zealand.

The result is that we rarely have wildfires and, when we do, they're usually small and easily managed.

Yeah, wetlands generally don't have wildfires.

California chooses not to do those things and now the rest of us are on the hook for billions in aid.

Florida gets billions in aid nearly every year. People with more sense than to live in hurricane prone areas are on the hook for that, too.

I guess when he does something that you would expect any President to do we should give him extra praise because he's Joe Biden

Or we could remember a certain other president who wanted to withhold disaster aid from California until he was told how Orange County went red in 2016.

 

[BPPLEE]

You're talking about Florida, right? Your location says USA not New Zealand.

Yeah, wetlands generally don't have wildfires.

Florida gets billions in aid nearly every year. People with more sense than to live in hurricane prone areas are on the hook for that, too.

Or we could remember a certain other president who wanted to withhold disaster aid from California until he was told how Orange County went red in 2016.

Yeah, I guess you could make the same argument

 

[BPPLEE]

You're talking about Florida, right? Your location says USA not New Zealand.

Yeah, wetlands generally don't have wildfires.

Florida gets billions in aid nearly every year. People with more sense than to live in hurricane prone areas are on the hook for that, too.

Or we could remember a certain other president who wanted to withhold disaster aid from California until he was told how Orange County went red in 2016.

But it's kind of like California being covered completely while people in North Carolina sleep on the ground

 

[keith99]

Here is a link sent to me from a Christian who used to participate here. She left because this site was a danger to her faith. Ironically I. the atheist was and am not. Call me 'the little knock'. (If you are a C. S. Lewis fan you might get it).

California Fire Facts | Governor Gavin Newsom

Get the facts about the Los Angeles fires.

gavinnewsom.com

One other thing. Almost all of the areas that are vulnerable to wildfires are in the hills or mountains. Many have limited ways out. That can mean that evacuation notices have to be issues when there is no imminent danger. By the time the fire is starting to get close it is too late for all the people to get out through the limited ways out.

One of the new evacuation notices seems to be Mandeville Canyon. Frankly I'm surprised it was not evacuated 2 days ago. There is only one way out and with the current winds it could have been turned into a death trap at any time.

In an extreme case 2-3 decades ago the panic involved because of a vague announcement of parts of Calabasas being evacuated likely led to 2 deaths. (Only Calabasas Highlands was being evacuated and the only way out of that gated community meant heading towards the fire. That and The Motion Picture Hospital. A day later I heard the statement of the director of the facility clarify things. They had a large number of senile patients and if the wind shifted the fire could have been there in 24 hours and it would take them that long to evacuate. )

I remember because I was out on a bike ride and it was not fun sharing residential streets with cars going over 60 MPH. There was an older couple who were killed when the fire overran their pickup. The husband was bedridden, and his wife left work to get him out. She got him, but they did not make it out. We passed through a jammed intersection that most likely delayed her 10-15 minutes. Likely the difference between making it out and not.

 

[wing2000]

#1: That's a budget exercise. "it is NOT happening yet."
#2: Mayor Bass's actual proposed budget called for a cut of $23 million, not $48.8.
#3: The shortfall was addressed by allocated spending from the city's general budget (as opposed to the LAFD budget) to increase firefighter pay after union negotiations.

Did Mayor Karen Bass really cut the fire department budget? The answer gets tricky​

Her proposal, unveiled in April, sought $23 million in cuts to the department, with much of it focused on reduced equipment purchases.

In May, the City Council approved the mayor’s 2024-25 budget, reducing the size of her proposed spending reductions at the fire department to $17 million

As part of the budget, more than $100 million for salary increases was placed into an account known as the “unappropriated balance,” which serves as something of a holding tank for expenses that are expected but not finalized.

The City Council approved the firefighter raises in November, adding more than $53 million in additional salary costs. By then, the council had also signed off on $58 million for new firetrucks and other department purchases.

Once those two line items were added, the fire department’s operating budget actually grew by more than 7% compared to the prior fiscal year, according to the city’s financial analysts.

#4 No amount of fire budget would have made any difference. It's simply impossible for man to fight a fire storm.

 

[essentialsaltes]

#4 No amount of fire budget would have made any difference. It's simply impossible for man to fight a fire storm.

Haven't you heard? Some rakes and a little elbow grease would make such fires impossible.

Republican congressman calls for halting of disaster relief to California​

Warren Davidson of Ohio says aid should be withheld until the state ravaged by wildfires reforms forestry management

 

[BPPLEE]

#4 No amount of fire budget would have made any difference. It's simply impossible for man to fight a fire storm.

Then it’s probably not a good idea to build houses there

 

[BPPLEE]

Here is a link sent to me from a Christian who used to participate here. She left because this site was a danger to her faith. Ironically I. the atheist was and am not. Call me 'the little knock'. (If you are a C. S. Lewis fan you might get it).

California Fire Facts | Governor Gavin Newsom

Get the facts about the Los Angeles fires.

gavinnewsom.com

One other thing. Almost all of the areas that are vulnerable to wildfires are in the hills or mountains. Many have limited ways out. That can mean that evacuation notices have to be issues when there is no imminent danger. By the time the fire is starting to get close it is too late for all the people to get out through the limited ways out.

One of the new evacuation notices seems to be Mandeville Canyon. Frankly I'm surprised it was not evacuated 2 days ago. There is only one way out and with the current winds it could have been turned into a death trap at any time.

In an extreme case 2-3 decades ago the panic involved because of a vague announcement of parts of Calabasas being evacuated likely led to 2 deaths. (Only Calabasas Highlands was being evacuated and the only way out of that gated community meant heading towards the fire. That and The Motion Picture Hospital. A day later I heard the statement of the director of the facility clarify things. They had a large number of senile patients and if the wind shifted the fire could have been there in 24 hours and it would take them that long to evacuate. )

I remember because I was out on a bike ride and it was not fun sharing residential streets with cars going over 60 MPH. There was an older couple who were killed when the fire overran their pickup. The husband was bedridden, and his wife left work to get him out. She got him, but they did not make it out. We passed through a jammed intersection that most likely delayed her 10-15 minutes. Likely the difference between making it out and not.

Gavin Newsom.com? Really?

 

[Pommer]

#4 No amount of fire budget would have made any difference. It's simply impossible for man to fight a fire storm.

If the city of Los Angeles had had the “wisdom” to install two-meter water pipelines under 400 sq/mi they could have contained it quicker, if the system worked, still there, year after year with little to no maintenance and they’d lose more homes to mudslides from the water main breaks!

And someone will still lay blame.

Welcome to politics!

 

[mindlight]

California wildfires latest: Rain brings relief — and mudslides — to burn areas in Los Angeles

More than an inch of rain fell in parts of Los Angeles Monday afternoon, triggering flash flood watches and warnings in areas scorched by this month's wildfires.

www.yahoo.com

Palisades Fire live updates: Wildfires spread in Los Angeles, prompting mandatory evacuations, as Santa Ana winds expected to intensify
The Los Angeles Fire Department issued a mandatory evacuation order for people in the vicinity of the fire.

Fueled by strong Santa Ana winds gusting to 80 miles per hour, low humidity and ongoing drought conditions, wildfires erupted Tuesday in Southern California, threatening homes in Pacific Palisades.

The Palisades Fire sprang to life Tuesday morning in the hills north of Malibu, leading officials to issue evacuation orders for thousands of residents.

"In preparation for high winds, LAFD pre-deployed strike teams in and near areas prone to wildfire," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a message posted to social media. "Firefighters are now actively and aggressively responding to the #PalisadesFire with support from regional partners. Angelenos in the area are urged to heed evacuation warnings."

The National Weather Service has upgraded the wildfire risk to much of the Los Angeles area to "extremely critical," the most serious designation, through Wednesday morning.

This is a great tragedy for a great many innocent people.

But so also I wondered why Americans were not picking up on the fact that a whole bunch of woke Hollywood stars just saw their houses burned down. As corporations divest themselves of diversity programs and deep tech removes its fact-checkers I thought there was a kind of symbolism here of the end of an era as the Trump administration begins.

 

[Nithavela]

This is a great tragedy for a great many innocent people.

But so also I wondered why Americans were not picking up on the fact that a whole bunch of woke Hollywood stars just saw their houses burned down. As corporations divest themselves of diversity programs and deep tech removes its fact-checkers I thought there was a kind of symbolism here of the end of an era as the Trump administration begins.

Never too early to get a dig against "woke" in.

 

[Pommer]

This is a great tragedy for a great many innocent people.

But so also I wondered why Americans were not picking up on the fact that a whole bunch of woke Hollywood stars just saw their houses burned down.

Yes, this is so horrendous, still, I know that I’m unable to comprehend the scope of these fires…the political/social leanings of the people affected, DOESN’T ENTER INTO IT.

As corporations divest themselves of diversity programs and deep tech removes its fact-checkers I thought there was a kind of symbolism here of the end of an era as the Trump administration begins.

Sometimes we tell ourselves stories to deal with harsher realities, while people are dying and their lives destroyed, we’re pontificating over their lives.

I’d rather we didn’t.

 

[KCfromNC]

Haven't you heard? Some rakes and a little elbow grease would make such fires impossible.

Promoted by the same people who want to eliminate millions of workers from the economy when unemployment is at 4%. It's almost as if they're telling you not to take anything they say seriously.

 

[BPPLEE]

If the city of Los Angeles had had the “wisdom” to install two-meter water pipelines under 400 sq/mi they could have contained it quicker, if the system worked, still there, year after year with little to no maintenance and they’d lose more homes to mudslides from the water main breaks!

And someone will still lay blame.

Welcome to politics!

So it's not a good idea to build houses there

 

[wing2000]

So it's not a good idea to build houses there

In vulnerable areas - i.e. communities located down slope from areas impacted by the Santa Ana winds.

Investigation into how the initial fires were started is still in progress. I suspect falling power lines from the very high winds, will be part of the story. IMO, when a red flag event is anticipated, the state should force the power companies to shut down power in the affected areas.

 

[BPPLEE]

Did wokeism and DEI hobble the Los Angeles Fire Department?

Over the last several years, the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) attempted to renovate itself to be more "equitable and inclusive" in region known for dire wildfire risk and vulnerable suburbs.

www.westernstandard.news

Over the last several years, the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) attempted to renovate itself to be more "equitable and inclusive" in region known for dire wildfire risk and vulnerable suburbs.
Should Kristin Crowley, the department's first openly LGBTQ chief, have paid more attention to firefighting preparation and fire prevention instead of promoting politicized social justice?
Vast swaths of LA are now burning.

A section of LA burns

Woke LAFD initiatives include a chart to track the race of every employee to ensure diversity — "engaging the voices and respecting the humanity," workshops on implicit bias to "advance equity," and a goal to double the percentage of female firefighters.
The LAFD desired to promote DEI even above technological innovation and disaster recovery capability, it is said.

 

[wing2000]

Should Kristin Crowley, the department's first openly LGBTQ chief, have paid more attention to firefighting preparation and fire prevention instead of promoting politicized social justice?

....because she can't do both at the same time?

Please.