Report From Los Angeles UPDATED SATURDAY EVENING
Having gotten some queries from members here about how things are, I'll answer here for all.
The header photo was taken from atop my neighbor's roof at 5pm today, just before sunset. That's the Palisades Fire, which moved into Mandeville Canyon today, just on the other side of the Santa Monicas,
The Palisades Fire has now destroyed 19,000 acres and 5,000 buildings as of sunset today. Two people are dead there (Update - the death toll is now 10 with the discovery of more bodies in homes). There is 6% containment. That city no longer exists. It looks like a German city after a Bomber Command raid in World War II. The winds we calm today but picked up at sunset and are strong, but not like Tuesday. The fire was so destructive on Tuesday when it broke out because the helicopters and fire bombers were grounded due to the high winds. This was a town founded over a century ago. There is nothing left but rubble.
This is the worst thing I have ever experienced. I've lived here 45 years and never seen anything like this. The 85mph winds that swept down my street Tuesday afternoon were terrifying. Fortunately the winds were half that on Wednesday. The firebombers (Thank you Canada for the CL-415s - update: one of the two CL-415s is now out of service having collided with a #$%$#@! drone that damaged the nose gear) and helicopters were able to fly.
Last night a fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills just west of the Hollywood Bowl. Right in the middle of town! Seeing the LAFD setting up their final battle line on Hollywood Boulevard was sobering. Luckily the air attack over two hours led to containment by midnight. I watched the street I used to live on back in Movie Biz Days go up in flame from a helicopter shot. Three friends lost their homes and two others are just returning from evacuation.
This afternoon, I was talking to a friend who lives in Hidden Hills (six miles west of me) on the phone when her phone alarm went off and she was on evacuation. She had already packed and the dogs were in their crates ready to go. The wind turned due west and increased. An hour later the Kenneth fire had grown from 200 to 400 acres and at 6 pm, two hours later, it was at 1,000. If the wind shifts to the SW, this fare could link up with the west end of the Palisades Fire and knock out the Pacific Coast here.
The fire in Altadena on the east end of LA has wiped out that town - 5,000 structures destroyed, 18,000 acres burned, zero containment. Five dead. Mount Wilson is under threat, and that is where all the radio and TV relay towers for Southern California are. My friend Ken Goldman - some of whose models are on display here - and his wife had to evacuate last night but were able to go home this morning. There is a report tonight that the fire is spreading into Sierra Madre, a beautiful Old California town - it's where the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" was shot.
What's so different is that fires here usually happen in the rural outskirts of the city. These fires are in the middle of a dense urban area in the most densely-populated county in the U.S.
The winds are forecast to die down by Saturday - but there's another Santa Anna condition forecast for next week.
So far as I am concerned, I live in the Encino Flats. Fires don't get big in the "flatlands" because the wind needs the "venturi effect" of a canyon to build power. Eveything to the north and east of us is more flatland. The winds can't shift to coming north because the location of the high pressure and low pressure points that are controlling this (low pressure is over the Sea of Cortez, south. But if something happened in the Sherman Oaks hills and a strong west wind developed, all bets would be off.
There was just a news report that there is an arson investigation on the start of the Kenneth Fire this afternoon. Good news: most recent report is the aerial attack has contained this fire. (Update - a suspect has been arrested tonight)
All the news that fits. For now.
FRIDAY NIGHT UPDATE:
Things have changed. There is an (outside) possibility I will have to evacuate tonight. The low winds have allowed the Mandeville Canyon fire to spread uphill. As you can see in the attached photo, we can now see flames over the crest of the Santa Monicas. Attached photo shows the flames now visible over the Santa Monicas. It's 5 miles south of us. (telephoto effect makes it look closer - it's 5 miles away)
So far, the wind is ESE, away from us, but only 18mph. Right now there are mandatory evacuations north of Sunset Blvd from Mandeville Canyon to the 405 freeway. Brentwood and Santa Monica are threatened. The yellow zone for preparation is from the Encino Reservoir north to Ventura Blvd (mile and a half south of me).
I have a friend I can relocate to. I will pull the computer last (all my life is on it). Hopefully I can convince all the cats to get in the big dog carrier I have. Car is packed and ready to go.
SATURDAY MORNING
We got through the night. The flames were high over the mountains to the south, but a big air attack around 10pm knocked them back. I was packed and ready to leave; stayed up all night checking the fire every hour. Amazing I could look at the remains of my life and be ready to leave it all.
The fire is moving east in west Los Angeles. The Getty Center and Brentwood west of the 405 freeway are mandatory evacuation. UCLA and all of Bel Air north of Sunset Blvd. and west of Stone Canyon Reservoir and the Bel Air Country Club are on mandatory evacuation. The wind has picked up in the San Fernando Valley, coming from NNE.
I don't ever want to go through something like this again. This is unbelievable, but t here it is happening.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON: for the first time in days, there is no smoke on the horizon. Hopefully things stay this way.
Good to hear that you are safe, Tom.
Thanks for the clear report and the personal perspective. I hope you and your friends continue to be safe.
Thanks for all the news, Tom.
Stay safe.
Thanks for this update Tom, I wish you well, stay safe.
Glad to hear you are safe, Tom @tcinla
Thanks for sharing.
Thinking of you.
A drone! Whoever is responsible for that should be prosecuted for the interference.
Yes indeed!
What a terrifying read, Tom.
Hope the situation changes for the better soon. Stay safe!
Thanks for the info, Tom (@tcinla). I am glad that you are in a safe place. I have seen a lot of horrible disasters while I was in the military, but this is worse than any of them.
Keep safe. The Santa Anna winds in California are truely a danger.
Upon seeing the row upon row of destroyed homes, I am very saddened to think that each of those houses represents families whose lives are forever changed. The news media has done a good job of detailing the fires, and the aftermath caused by the fires, yet I have seen very little coverage about the thousands of people who have been left homeless by this tragedy. Where are these families, and what do they do now? It is a scary situation that will go on for a long time.
Thank you, Tom, for your excellent, and very sobering, report.
I am glad you are safe Tom (@tcinla). I am very saddened to see all this destruction and it really highlights how quickly our lives can be upended or destroyed. I hope that this can all be brought under control quickly and people can start rebuilding their lives. And I really hope that we don't see a repeat of the profiteering that occurred in Maui at the expense of the victims.
Hearing the numbers and seeing the news is beyond comprehension of the damage caused. Glad Canada can pitch in and lend a hand.
We had dinner with the kids last night, my son is a firefighter and my daughter fought forest fires with the Ministry in Ontario and BC. Hearing them talk about fires provides a different perspective and dimension of this fire and the devastation.
Take care Tom, stay safe.
Keep safe Tom.
Praying for you specifically Tom, and for the fire victims and fire fighters as well.
Stay safe, Tom. You have been in my prayers since this tragedy started.
Great report Tom. Your reports and those on MSNBC by Katy Tur have done a fantastic job of putting "REALITY" in to the reporting of what is usually just sound bites, file footage, and melodrama. Like you said, this is peoples' lives.
Stay safe Tom! It's terrible what's happening there 🙁
Living all my life in So Cal, other than being away while serving in the Navy, otherwise always coming home here in So. California. Unlike last year when we had rain, the winds were not as severe and not so dry vegetation. The winds this year are much stronger than usual that have not been as severe in about 11 years. I live in the Inland Empire (about an hour east of LA proper) which we have had our share of fires, but not this time. Though one can spark anytime anywhere out here in the boondocks. The difference this time is very dry vegetation, no rain, throw in the Santa Ana's and we get a result that has never happened before. Prior fires of this magnitude took place in rural areas around the cities and towns that is Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Not to leave out Orange, Santa Barbara and San Diego which have had their share over the years. The fires took place in congested communities in Pacific Palisades to Malibu and the Pacific Coast Highway. In Altadena, Pasadena and Arcadia, again homes were destroyed in those communities. When you have a beach house on the beach, you never ever figure your house will be in danger of such a fire as that took place this week. We witnessed this last year in Hawaii in a fire that was very similar in destruction as that we have here. The evacuations were a disaster the very first night with cars blocking access for fire equipment to reach the fires. No air assets available to drop water and fire retardant's, as the winds were too strong to fly safely. Then the stories of some of the residents recently having their fire insurance coverage canceled, Mayor Bass cutting funding to LAFD which showed in lack of man power at the start and not able to cover all the fires in LA county. Until help arrived from Canada, Arizona and Nevada as well as Cal fire units from N. California.
Investigations are ongoing on the cause of the fires that have destroyed homes and famous businesses, landmarks. Imagine Hollywood in the city were in danger, Hollywood sign the Magic Lamp Mansion, as no one ever thought that a fire of this magnitude could occur. There are 3 huge water reservoir tanks that each hold 1 million gallons of water were emptied out in one night. Water pressure was low through out the city as residents were hosing down there houses. Fire trucks were pumping water from swimming pools. As someone mentioned it looks like a German city leveled after a bombing raid in WWII or Nagasaki after the Atomic bomb was dropped. Welcome to the start of a new year. It started with New Orleans...Happy New Year
LAFD funding wasn't cut, Chuck. That paper being quoted is a preliminary budget. The budget in final form was increased to $185M.
The problem is we have an urban water system that can't handle all the major use, plus power was cut in fire areas to prevent sparks, and this turned off power to the pumps, which led to the loss of water pressure. Lots of "Lessons learned" to be dealt with in future. (San Francisco put in an independent high power water system after the 1906 fire - we need to do something similar).
Hi, Tom glad you safe, the info regarding the budget was reported by the LA Times, here is the report:
"Even more concerning? In June 2024, Bass slashed the city’s Fire Department budget by $25 million, despite explicit warnings from Fire Chief Johnson about the dangers of such cuts. Now, as firefighters struggle with limited resources, those budget decisions look increasingly catastrophic."
this was my source in regard to the budget cut.
Scientists are calling a wet rainy season followed
by a Dry hot one a " hydro climatic whiplash". Which is being amplified by climate change. Mother nature doesn't discriminate and will take both the rich and the poor's homes. A lot of press is focusing on celebrities many have the resources to recover from such a disaster. It's great to see and read your post TC . A more down to earth/common man approach.
Stay safe and keep us up dated.
G’day Tom (@tcinla),
Down here in Oz it is our bushfire season and have already had one, thankfully now contained, in the west of the state (Victoria).
It is scary that you are in the midst of a huge one in your winter.
Normally, we share resources and personnel with the US to fight these fires (and vice versa), but I beleive the assessment is that the risk at home is too great for us to do so at the moment.
It is certainly big news here and we are all hoping and praying that it is over soon.
All the best and stay safe, Tom.
I watched a report on TV earlier this evening and cannot believe the extent of the damage. Our hearts and thought go out to all of you who are going through this and have lost everything. As your Northern neighbour, we are always there to help when needed and have done so and will continue to do so. Ontario Quebec and Alberta are sending Water Bombers, supplies and personnel to assist in fighting the fire and British Columbia are providing vital assistance in the battle. The CL 415 is a specialized aerial fire fighter and amazing plane and will be a great asset for fighting the fires. Once it's over we again will be ready to help rebuild and get everyone back on their feet.
I think we turned the corner here. Can't see any flames over the mountain crest. (This is 2145 local) Reports are all about firefighting south of Mulholland (spine of the Santa Monicas). They're now worried about Brentwood. I'm packed but to pull the computer last. Just put on a fresh pot of coffee since I am staying up all night.
If anyone has been sending prayers to this atheist, they appear to be working! 🙂
Glad to hear that, Tom @tcinla. I hope your situation continues to improve. Please do keep us posted if possible!
Anybody who loves cats gets prayed for.
Keep safe Tom