Pacific Palisades Fire Threatening Santa Monica, California

[Ivan Seeking]

27 confirmed dead
31 still missing
https://www.latimes.com/california/...are-some-victims-stories-essential-california

 

[Astronuc]

This also belongs under Weird News, "Officials say a man who tried to enter the Palisades fire zone claiming to be a volunteer firefighter was a convicted arsonist in a decommissioned fire truck."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pulled-palisades-fire-fire-engine-001837395.html

The fire truck pulled up to a checkpoint Saturday morning near where emergency workers were sifting through the wreckage caused by the Palisades fire.

The driver told the National Guard troops manning the perimeter that he was a volunteer firefighter, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the incident told The Times.

They had little reason to believe otherwise, said the official, who wasn't authorized to speak with the media and requested anonymity. The man was wearing a yellow firefighter uniform — and he was driving a full-size red fire engine outfitted with emergency lights, California license plates and an American flag.

But a firefighter at the checkpoint noticed something off about the decals on the truck, which had markings from the "Roaring River Fire Department," the official said. He told Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies to check the man's ID.

According to the law enforcement official, the man presented an Oregon driver's license with the name of Dustin Nehl. A search of Nehl's criminal history revealed he had served five years in prison for arson, the official said.


In 2017, KATU, a Portland TV station, reported that Nehl pleaded guilty to setting a series of fires at a golf course, a park and a water facility in Woodburn, Ore., a city about 30 miles south of Portland.

Nehl, 31, and his wife, 44-year-old Jennifer Nehl — who was with him — were arrested on suspicion of impersonating firefighters and unauthorized entry into an evacuation zone, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials said Sunday. Sheriff’s officials said they planned to ask the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office to charge the couple Tuesday.
. . . .

 

[mcastillo356]

Hi, PF

Isn`t rain to happen today, wednesday the 29th of january? Are wildfires under control?
Requiescat in Pace those who lost their lives

Greetings, Marcos

 

[Tom.G]

The rain, somewhat light, was Sunday night thru Monday morning, Jan 26 -Jan 27.
The last I heard some of the fires were still burning but 'mostly' contained.
The rain triggered some mud slides, but since there has not been a lot of noise about them I assume the slides were relatively minor.

Here is a link for current status:
https://www.fire.ca.gov/Incidents

(above link found with:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=california+wild+fires)

Thanks for asking,

Cheers,
Tom

 

[WWGD]

Today's (Sunday, Jan.12, 2025) LA Times headline:

Fire battle shifts to new front
Change in wind prompts evacuations in Brentwood, Encino, Tarzana

Some excerpts from the article:
Why water ran out as crisis raged
The water system that supplies neighborhoods simply doesn't have the capacity to deliver such large volums of water over several hours, said Martin Adams, former general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power "The system has never been designed to fight a wildfire that then envelops a community..."
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referring to the Eaton fire:
Pasadena fire chief Chad Augustin said having dozens of fire engines battling multiple fires resulted in overuse of the water system. "On top of that, we had a loss of power temporarily," he said, which affected the system Wednesday. (After a major fire in 1993 when the power failed, they installed backup generators at all of their pumping stations.)
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The manager of the Altadena Water district, Tom Majich:
"To fight a wildfire, you have to have Lake Havasu behind you. You could fill a Rose Bowl with water and it wouldn't be enough. There's not a system that can do it."

From memory, another statement I ran across but can't find at the moment said:
City neighborhood water systems are designed to handle the daily usage of our customers and a building fire or two. We had 4 times the normal usage for 15 hours. (If i recall correctly, that emptied 2 large reservoirs, a third reservoir had been drained for needed repairs.)
[EDIT: for clarification/correction, see: https://www.physicsforums.com/threa...monica-california.1067975/page-3#post-7144495[/EDIT]

Another comment I ran across:
The fire spread so fast because "...high winds were carrying burning embers one to three miles beyond the fireline."

Well, that's the hot news from Sunny Southern California today.

Remember that "Smokey the Bear" says: "Only you can prevent forest fires."
. . . Well, maybe.

Tom

You can't believe how much angst that last line caused me as a child. Me, only me??!

 

[mcastillo356]

Seem to have ended California wildfires, as I see on latest news. Time to start working.
Don't paste the link: the source is full of politic quotes: I won't ever understand why.
Love
Marcos