“With very calm winds this morning, I believe we can really make some progress, turn the corner and start building,” said Brent Pascua, Cal Fire battalion chief. some measures to prevent these fires. speak Today's program on Thursday.
So far, the response to the disaster has been marred by misinformation and controversy. After several fire hydrants ran dry, president-elect Donald Trump baselessly accused California governor Gavin Newsom of mismanaging the state's water supply to save an endangered fish species. chance of extinction.
City crews now have access to three water tanks in the hills near the Palisades fire to increase pressure. That allows tanks to fill faster so they can continue to provide water, Stewart said. Each tank can hold 1 million gallons. “We have full running water,” she said.
More firefighters began arriving from Utah, Oregon, Arizona, Washington and New Mexico. According to Stewart, dozens of special forces are on their way, each with five fire trucks and a command vehicle.
Planes began flying again on Wednesday. Twelve helicopters were filling giant water tanks suspended from cables and sucking in seawater through snorkels. Six planes are also helping to put out the fire, including a pair of “super planes” that are skimming the surface of the Pacific Ocean to scoop up water. Helicopters and water-dumping planes pour water on local fires, allowing firefighters to reach and extinguish them.
Meanwhile, other planes were dropping flame retardants ahead of the inferno, coating the potential fuel with a layer of unburnt chemicals and slowing its advance. A C-130 cargo plane that Cal Fire acquired from the Coast Guard and retrofitted this summer can dump 4,000 gallons of fire retardant. That gives firefighters time to dig out and bulldoze fires on bare land.
With the ocean confining the Palisades Fire to the south, responders will try to prevent it from erupting to the east or west. “The real disparity will be on the flanks,” Pimlott said.
A red flag warning for increased fire danger will remain in place until Friday, with humidity levels at just 8–12%. California is experiencing an unusually dry winter, with 40% of the state in drought.
“Fuel remains extremely dry,” said James Magana of Cal Fire speak at Thursday morning's briefing. “You can see severe rates of spread, especially on mountain tops or downwind drainages.”
On Saturday, winds are expected to change direction. If firefighters are not ready, the heel of the fire can become the front and spread north.
Even if they can contain the fire within the fire ring and natural barriers, that is not the end of the mission. Firefighters will have to extinguish smaller fires within that footprint.
“It's a critical period, to clean up these hot spots or anything that could flare up again if the winds pick up again,” Upton said.
Going forward, the city will need to clean up debris, restore utilities and analyze environmental damage before allowing residents to return. With canyons depleted of trees and soil-holding vegetation, landslides could become a threat when the rains return.
Los Angeles will face the prospect of rebuilding destroyed communities. It's an opportunity to make them less vulnerable to the next fire, said Max Moritz, a wildfire expert with the University of California Cooperative Extension.
Although in many cases homes are required to be constructed of fireproof materials, California law says nothing about how they should be located. Techniques such as clustering homes instead of spreading them among trees could make them more fireproof and easier to evacuate, he said.
“That's part of the hope here, that we can do some of these things better, smarter and safer,” Moritz said.