#malibu canyon fire

[trendingnews25]

18,000 Malibu area residents face evacuation as Red Flag fire warnings persist.

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[ayshaley]

Los Angeles wildfires live news: 130,000 ordered to evacuate

Read More: Link 1

Read More: Link 2

[foundationsofdecay]

well, at least the winds are blowing in the direction of the ocean

[free-luigi]

Please share!

i don't know if this will reach anyone it needs to but i think it can't hurt.

they need help evacuating horses and livestock from the eaton fire in pasadena too

[mariacallous]

The giant fires that are scouring Los Angeles have officially become the most destructive in the city’s history, killing at least six people and destroying at least 5,000 buildings. But as the winds driving the inferno have slackened, experts are cautiously optimistic that the blazes can soon be beaten back.

With reinforcements from other states, California firefighters have shifted from defense to offense. Rather than just saving individual buildings, they are now trying to stop the overall advance of the flames.

“Tuesday and Wednesday our priority was saving lives and protecting as much property as possible,” says LA Fire Department spokesperson Margaret Stewart. “Now that we’re able to operate at our full capacity, we’re able to have a more powerful assault.”

In a two-pronged attack, aircraft have ramped up dousing the fires from the air while firefighters and bulldozers starve them of fuel on the ground. At times earlier in the week, planes had to be grounded because of the severity of the wind.

“I would say [the tide] is turning,” says Ken Pimlott, former director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. “Today and tomorrow are really the key windows to get through, the red flag fire weather conditions. Then I think we’ll start to see much more progress.”

Massive fires began clawing through the Los Angeles metropolitan area on Tuesday thanks to a combination of long-standing drought and a bout of strong Santa Ana winds, seasonal air that blows from the high desert of Nevada and Utah into Southern California.

The Palisades Fire east of Malibu, which has burned almost 20,000 acres, was 0 percent contained on Thursday. Celebrities like Billy Crystal and Paris Hilton were among the many people who had lost their homes. The Eaton Fire in Pasadena, roughly 25 miles to the east, was also uncontained, but the fire department has been able to slow its growth. The Sunset Fire that started in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday was quickly hemmed in, and two others are partially contained.

“The only fire that has that potential [to grow] is Palisades, and we have 1,100 people on that,” Stewart says.

The key factor has been the winds of up to 99 miles per hour. They’ve been raking down from the northeast to the southwest, fanning the flames and throwing burning embers half a mile in front of the main fire. Canyons running largely the same direction have funneled and intensified that movement of air, creating what Pimlott called a “blowtorch” that spread the Palisades Fire. The flames have been essentially unstoppable.

“These pressurized winds literally explode out of these canyons,” says Janet Upton, former deputy director of Cal Fire. “All you can do is work to get anything with a heartbeat out of the way.”

But the winds began easing up on Wednesday and Thursday. They were anticipated to reach 15 to 20 miles per hour Thursday afternoon, before ticking up to 30 to 40 miles per hour on Friday, according to the National Weather Service. Firefighters that were helpless against virtually unstoppable wind-driven blazes have been able to return to their normal tactics.

“With those winds being very calm this morning, I believe we can actually make some progress, turn a corner, and start to build some containment on these fires,” Brent Pascua, a Cal Fire battalion chief, told The Today Show on Thursday.

So far the disaster response has been marred by disinformation and controversy. After some fire hydrants ran dry, president-elect Donald Trump baselessly accused California governor Gavin Newsom of mismanaging the state’s water supplies to save an endangered fish.

City employees have now been able to reach three water tanks on hills near the Palisades Fire to turn up the pressure. That allows the tanks to be refilled more quickly so they can keep supplying the hydrants, Stewart says. Each tank can hold 1 million gallons. “We have full flowing hydrants,” she says.

More firefighters have begun to arrive from Utah, Oregon, Arizona, Washington, and New Mexico. Several dozen task forces are on their way, according to Stewart, each with five fire engines plus a command vehicle.

Aircraft began flying again on Wednesday. Twelve helicopters are filling humongous water buckets hanging from cables and sucking seawater up through snorkels. Six planes are also working the fires, including a pair of “super scoop” aircraft that have been skimming across the surface of the Pacific to pick up water. The helicopters and scoop planes dump water on spot fires, letting firefighters close in and extinguish them.

Meanwhile, other airplanes are dropping fire retardant out ahead of the inferno, coating potential fuel with a layer of nonflammable 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 retardant. That buys time for firefighters to dig and bulldoze firebreaks of bare soil.

With the ocean constraining the Palisades Fire to the south, responders will try to prevent it from breaking out to the east or west. “The real spread is going to be on the flank,” Pimlott says.

A red flag warning for increased fire risk will remain through Friday, with humidity at only 8–12 percent. California has been suffering an abnormally dry winter, with 40 percent of the state under drought conditions.

“Fuels remain critically dry,” James Magana of Cal Fire said at a Thursday morning briefing. “You can expect to see critical rates of spread, especially on those ridgetops or those drainages that are in alignment with the wind.”

On Saturday, the winds are expected to reverse direction. If firefighters aren’t ready, the heel of the fire could become the front and run off to the north.

Even once they’re able to contain the conflagration within a circle of firebreaks and natural barriers, that won’t be the end of the task. Firefighters will have to stamp out smaller fires within that footprint.

“That’s a critical stage, to mop up these hot spots or anything that could rekindle if the winds were to increase again,” Upton says.

Moving forward, the city will need to clean up debris, restore utilities, and analyze damage to the environment before allowing people to move back. With canyons depleted of the trees and vegetation that hold the soil, mudslides could become a threat once the rains return.

Los Angeles will face the prospect of rebuilding destroyed communities. That’s an opportunity to make them less vulnerable to the next fire, says Max Moritz, a wildfire specialist with the University of California Cooperative Extension.

Although houses are in many cases required to be built with fire-resistant materials, California law doesn’t say anything about how they should be laid out. Techniques like clustering homes rather than spreading them out among the trees can make them easier to defend from fire, and easier to evacuate, he says.

“That is part of the hope here, that we can do some of this better, smarter, and safer,” Moritz says.

[victusinveritas]

Mike Davis, a prophet of California, wrote "The Case for Letting Malibu Burn" (link to the full piece) which earned him the wrath of developers, proven right, again, as catastrophic flames destroy enclaves of privilege and power and, like below, Pasadena. The Chumash and the Tong-va knew this. Controlled burns as a yearly occurence stretches back into time immemorial.

"Malibu, meanwhile, is the wildfire capital of North America and, possibly, the world. Fire here has a relentless staccato rhythm, syncopated by landslides and floods. The rugged 22-mile-long coastline is scourged, on the average, by a large fire (one thousand acres plus) every two and a half years, and the entire surface area of the western Santa Monica Mountains has been burnt three times over the twentieth century. At least once a decade a blaze in the chaparral grows into a terrifying firestorm consuming hundreds of homes in an inexorable advance across the mountains to the sea. Since 1970 five such holocausts have destroyed more than one thousand luxury residences and inflicted more than $1 billion in property damage. Some unhappy homeowners have been burnt out twice in a generation, and there are individual patches of coastline or mountain, especially between Point Dume and Tuna Canyon, that have been incinerated as many as eight times since 1930.

...

From the time of the Tapias, the owners of Rancho Malibu had recognized that the region’s extraordinary fire hazard was shaped, in large part, by the uncanny alignment of its coastal canyons with the annual “fire winds” from the north: the notorious Santa Anas, which blow primarily between Labor Day and Thanksgiving, just before the first rains. Born from high-pressure areas over the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau, the Santa Anas become hot and dry as they descend avalanche-like into Southern California. The San Fernando Valley acts as a giant bellows, sometimes fanning the Santa Anas to hurricane velocity as they roar seaward through the narrow canyons and rugged defiles of the Santa Monica Mountains. Add a spark to the dense, dry vegetation on such an occasion and the hillsides will explode in uncontrollable wildfire: “The speed and heat of the fire is so intense that firefighters can only attempt to prevent lateral spread of the fire while waiting for the winds to abate or the fuel to diminish.

Less well understood in the old days was the essential dependence of the dominant vegetation of the Santa Monicas—chamise chaparral, coastal sage scrub, and live oak woodland—upon this cycle of wildfire. Decades of research (especially at the San Dimas Experimental Forest in the San Gabriel Mountains) have given late-twentieth-century science vivid insights into the complex and ultimately beneficial role of fire in recycling nutrients and ensuring seed germination in Southern California’s various pyrophytic flora. Research has also established the overwhelming importance of biomass accumulation rather than ignition frequency in regulating fire destructiveness. As Richard Minnich, the world authority on chaparral brushfire, emphasizes: “Fuel, not ignitions, causes fire. You can send an arsonist to Death Valley and he’ll never be arrested.”

(Yes, I'm reusing some of the same images that I posted earlier. The point is the words that go along with the pictures. Mike Davis was brilliant and will be missed.)

[bruces-midlife-crisis]

Southern California is still on fire and we need your help

Today, it is January 10th, 2025.

In good news, the the Sunset fire is now considered inactive and all evacuations have been reversed. It only grew to 60 acres at it's peak. The Hurst fire has shrunk to over 700 acres and is now 37% contained. The Lidia fire is still at over 300 acres but it is now 75% contained.

Sadly, that is all the good news I have. The Palisades fire has grown to over 20,000 acres with 6% containment. The Eaton fire has grown to over 13,000 acres. To put the sheer size of these fires into perspective, Manhattan has an area of 14,604 acres.

Tragically, 10 people have lost their lives.

At 2:43 PM, a fire known as the Kenneth fire started near the Woodland Hills area. It is 1,000 acres and is 35% contained as of writing. Sadly, this fire appears to have started due to an arson attack. Police currently have the suspect in custody after neighbors performed a citizen's arrest.

This morning, CBS conducted an exclusive interview with LAFD Fire Chief Kristin Crowley where it was revealed that Crowley warned LA Mayor Karen Bass that budget cuts would hamper the LAFD's ability to handle fire emergencies. Crowley confirmed that the city defunded LAFD by $17.6 million, which included a $7 million decrease in overtime pay.

THE EATON FIRE

The Palisades fire has received the most attention from mainstream media after celebrities and high profile Angelenos evacuated the region. Pacific Palisades is considered to be the most sought after real estate in the country as it sits on the Pacific Coast Highway between Santa Monica and Malibu. We now need to shift our attention to the Eaton fire.

The Eaton fire started on Thursday, January 8th, near Altadena Drive and Midwick Drive in the Altadena area. The city primarily affected by this fire is Altadena, home to over 40,000 people and is a mere 4 miles (6 kilometers) away from Pasadena. As of writing, it has burned to over 13,000 acres, has destroyed over 5,000 homes, with 0% containment.

Altadena has a large population of working and middle class families, particularly black families, whose families have lived in the region for generations. During the Great Migration of the 1900s, many black people fled to Altadena to escape the Jim Crow South. Octavia Butler, the world renowned author of Parable of the South, was from Altadena. As these Eaton fire continues to destroy the city, California is losing it's black history.

Do-Not-Drink Water alerts have been issued in Pasadena and Eaton Canyon as the Eaton fire has destroyed and contaminated the water pipes in the region as firefighters continue to fight the fires.

If you're able, please consider donating to the Gofundmes of Black families who have been impacted by the Eaton fires.

Please also consider donation to those have been effected in Eaton Canyon.

WAYS YOU CAN HELP

The Los Angeles Times has shared organizations that you can donate to included the California Fire Foundation. If you're in Southern California, this list also include mutual aid organizations where you can donate materials directly.

If you would like to directly donate to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation which will go towards emergency shelters, hydration backpacks, and wildland brush tools, you can do so here.

If you're in Southern California, please use the MALAN Fire and Wind Storm Resources spreadsheet to find mutual aid organizations near you and find places where you can donate or volunteer.

Finally, if you still have a Twitter account, please routinely check the app for Gofundmes from families who have been affected by the fires. Most Gofundmes are not listed on spreadsheets or official websites yet and many families are sharing them on Twitter. I found multiple has I was working on this post but I know for a fact there are more: (here), (here), (here), (here), (here), (here), (here), and (here).

Please continue to keep Southern California in your hearts. As the days pass, it has become increasingly clear that the damage being done by these fires is more than we can comprehend. Drone footage shows that Palisades has practically disappeared. It's now being estimated that these fires have done over $50 billion in damages.

Once these fires subside, Los Angeles County will never be the same again. Please continue to support us as we try to heal our wounded home.

[twopoppies]

The first zane lowe interview over the ocean was from malibu I think right? Was that harrys home in LA? Is that area affected by the fires because I saw many celebrities who lost their homes there.

No. That was actually Rande Gerber and Cindy Crawford’s house. And I have no idea if they still own it.

The fire started in the pacific palisades which is a bit south of Malibu, but it’s spread and Malibu is definitely affected. And even Calabasas has an evacuation warning now (the Clarks had better get moving).

A new fire just broke out in the Hollywood Hills near Runyon Canyon. My friend who lives in West Hollywood just sent me this photo from his roof. 😬😬😬

The drought is making the whole thing really scary because the firefighters don’t have enough water in some places.

Anyway, I hope everyone is keeping themselves safe. I’m just praying they start to get it contained.

[rjzimmerman]

Some photos from the Los Angeles wildfires that have been punching me in the gut.

A man walks past a fire-ravaged business after the Eaton Fire swept through Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Thick heavy smoke from wildfires passes over the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

The Palisades Fire ravages a neighborhood amid high winds in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

The Palisades fire approaches the Pacific Ocean along PCH in Malibu, California on Jan. 8, 2025. Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The Palisades Fire from a flight arriving at LAX. Photo by Mark Viniello, from the Facebook page of Maggie O'Mara.

A resident is evacuated from a senior center in Altadena, one of the neighborhoods hit hardest by the Eaton fire. ETHAN SWOPE/AP

A resident flees with her dog as the Palisades fire rages on. Per the Los Angeles Times, one veterinarian has taken in nearly 40 pets, housing them at an empty old veterinary hospital in nearby Marina del Rey. JON PUTMAN/SOPA IMAGES/SIPA USA/AP

A homeless woman flees from the Palisades fire, pushing a cart filled with her belongings off the Pacific Coast Highway and Topanga Canyon Boulevard. WALLY SKALIJ/LOS ANGELES TIMES/GETTY IMAGES

Sunset Boulevard damaged by wildfires. Bellocqimages/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

The devastation from the Palisades Fire is seen from the air in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

The devastation from the Palisades Fire is seen from the air in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

A beachfront property is burned by the Palisades Fire on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Horses being rescued from Los Angeles wildfires. PHOTO: . FOX 11 LOS ANGELES/YOUTUBE

[bcacstuff]

Even after a two-day nightmare, L.A. girds for more days of fire weather

Flames from the Eaton fire consume a home in Altadena on Wednesday. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

Much of Los Angeles County remains under a red flag warning, with forecasters warning of critical fire weather to last through Friday night.

Firefighters Thursday were continuing to fight the Palisades fire, which has burned more than 17,200 acres, and the Eaton fire, that has burned through Pasadena and Altadena areas, charring at least 10,600 acres.

But Los Angeles caught a break Wednesday, with firefighters able to limit the Sunset fire, which broke out near Runyon Canyon above Hollywood on Wednesday, and keep a house fire in Studio City from spreading.

A firefighter sprays water on the Sunset fire, which prompted evacuations in the Hollywood area. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

Unlike during the catastrophic conditions on Tuesday night, when wind gusts of up to 100 mph were recorded, on Wednesday night, aircraft were able to make water drops on the Sunset fire, which broke out shortly before 6 p.m. Wednesday. Officials initially ordered a mandatory evacuation of a swath of Hollywood north of Hollywood Boulevard but are expected to lift all evacuation orders Thursday morning. The Sunset fire has burned 60 acres, according to CalFire.

Officials urged people to still be vigilant.

Wind speeds weakened across the Los Angeles region Thursday morning, with isolated gusts reaching 35 mph in the Malibu area and 58 mph in the San Gabriel Mountains, said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

But, the reprieve is expected to be brief. Winds are anticipated to strengthen Thursday night.

“We’ll get a little bump up in winds as we get another little push of offshore flow,” Wofford said. “Nothing like we saw [Wednesday] with the gusts of 80 to 100 mph winds, but certainly enough to present some issues for the fires. ... It’s kind of like a day on, day off sort of thing. At least until the middle of next week we’re going to be in that pattern.”

Late Wednesday, the National Weather Service downgraded the fire weather outlook for the region from “extremely critical” to “critical.” Wofford said Los Angeles residents should be prepared for a succession of sustained high wind events that could intensify fire risk. Humidity levels remain low and no rain is in the forecast in the coming days.

None of the four fires burning in Los Angeles County have any containment and the cause of each is being investigated.

article source LA times

At least it looks like some good news for the residents in the Hollywood Hills (including Alex)

[darkmaga-returns]

As I flew above the terrain I called home for 20 years, tears streamed down my face. Covered in grey smoke, the west side was unrecognizable, as were the devastated territories of Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and parts of Topanga Canyon. I left Los Angeles a little over a year ago, but most of my friends remain there. My heart is still there.

The area that is currently burning to the ground has been my playground, as well as my therapist, for most of my adult life. The trees, trails, and beaches, a constant companion. At my lowest points, the mountains and the oceans were always there to save me. A hike to reduce my anxiety. A swim to wash away my cares. The cold salt water and sand soothed my sore, aching body from one too many workouts. I always slept like a baby after an ocean dip.

Less than 24 hours before the spark that would change everything, I treaded up and down the Santa Monica stairs, a staple for fitness fanatics and weekend warriors alike. From there I walked to the beach and made my way to the sand at the bottom of the Pacific Palisades. I played in the ocean and frolicked in the sand, so grateful for this place and all it has taught me. I prayed, “God if it is your will, bring me back here.”

The fires haven’t changed that sentiment. If anything, they have reinforced my love for this state. For all the complaints about California (and there are plenty), it is my home. Despite the high cost of living and complete mismanagement of the state, the heart cares nothing for economics.

[longwindedbore]

Some of my fellow Progressives are generating slogans about the LA Fires that have the same kind of accuracy as we get from MAGAhats.

I spent six decades in So Cal. Here’s what I learned

FIRST, YES, there are big farms in California and some individual Owners “use more water than all of LA combined.”

That’s not hard because farming and ranching use two-thirds of all the available water in the State to…grow food. California grows 100% of certain foods eaten all over the US.

ALL the residences of ALL the cities and towns in California - all 39 million Californians - use a whopping 6% of the State’s water - half for watering lawns and the other half for cooking, washing, drinking.

The remaining portion is used by manufacturing and retail to provide jobs so food can be purchased and lawns watered.

[These statistics are publicly available because California is irrigated and supplied largely by measurable water flow in rivers and aqueducts rather than rainfall]

SECOND, the geography of Southern California is a series of valleys. On mountain ranges surrounding the large valleys the native vegetation called chaparral spends most of the year as dry tinder.

The mountain ranges all have series of twisty canyons. When the dreaded Santa Ana winds start to blow the narrow twisty canyons help accelerate the winds.

Once a fire starts (downed power line, spark from some cigarette or open fire, arsonist) then the accelerated winds act to increase the heat like a bellows in a blacksmith’s shop.

The Santa Ana’s are a prevailing wind blowing west but twisty canyons act to shift directions unpredictably.

Unpredictable winds then supercharge the dry tinder on the hillsides. Most of the acreage destroyed inland tends to be empty of people. These acres are crisscrossed with firebreaks. Firestorms generated by high winds can blow embers too far for any break

Communities like Pacific Palisades, Altadena, Bell Canyon were built within or on the edge of twisty canyons. These areas are beautiful and fragrant even when they are brown. Palisades and frequent fire target Malibu are at the mouths of these canyons just before the Ocean.

THIRD, LA County has a sophisticated emergency system gratis bonds authorized by voters and repaid with taxes (I participated in constructing portions of it). This System allows resources to be shifted quickly from communities within the County without hiccups in communication between different fire and police departments.

So there’s no shortage of resources.

To fight firestorms, however, its essential to create wide firebreaks AHEAD of where they…guess…the fire is headed. Between the fire and the break it’s not feasible to try to save individual buildings. The death toll to firefighters would be catastrophic. Even with 100 times as many engine companies, there isn’t enough water in the pipes for all the buildings.

The rebuild will be an epic nightmare.

PSA: Conversely if you visit So Cal in one of those now infrequent wet winters DO NOT GO FOR A HIKE IN THE BEAUTIFUL MOUNTAINS to enjoy the light rainfall!!! Those narrow canyons funnel water into flash floods which will smash you against rocks before drowning you.

PSA: trying to save your home by wetting it down with a lawn hose during a firestorm is the equivalent of spitting into a blast furnace to extinguish it. Survivors who stayed to lawn hose are those lucky ones for whom the unpredictable winds shifted the fire away from them.

[follow-up-news]

A wildfire in Malibu, California, exploded to more than 2,000 acres overnight, prompting evacuations and a six-hour shelter-in-place protocol at Pepperdine University. The Franklin Fire broke out around 11 p.m. local time Monday (2 a.m. ET Tuesday) in the Malibu Canyon area, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The blaze comes as many parts of Southern California are under red flag warnings because of strong Santa Ana winds, low humidity and dry vegetation — conditions ripe for dangerous wildfires. By around 7 a.m. local time Tuesday, the fire had grown to 2,200 acres and was 0% contained.

[thursdayinspace]

I am not that active in fandom anymore but I’m an old school XF fan and pinging you because you’re active! I was checking fire maps in Malibu today (used to live close by and was checking on a friend’s place that is sadly gone in Topanga Canyon). I thought DD had a place in East Malibu, which is pretty much destroyed. And I think some other XF alums are also local residents (CC? Maybe spotnitz?)

Anyway, this made me sad and sort of wanted to commiserate with fans in the midst of all the other destruction - I will always have a soft spot for XF actors and creators despite their issues etc.

It's honestly terrifying and tragic, there's no other way to put it. For everyone who lives there or knows people who do. It's hard for everyone to be helplessly watching, and I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for the people who live there and are in very real danger.

(I think it's also important to remember that climate change is a big contributing factor in this and that it's up to every single one of us to not make it worse than it already is. But right now, I'm just sad and terrified for everyone affected.)

[home-inspiration-blog]

Only 1 Malibu elementary school reopens; 3 others remain closed

Only one elementary school in Malibu is reopening Tuesday despite previous indications that all four schools closed due to the Palisades Fire were welcoming students back.   Webster Elementary School, located at 3602 Winter Canyon Road, is opening because it is the only one of the closed schools with power.  The other three – Malibu Elementary, Middle and High schools – were supposed to open…