quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
Reminds you of the debacle in Hawaii . Who was held accountable ?

Lahaina it was the blame game, and pointing fingers. Then the raisin flew down there and talked about his Corvette or some such shit “almost” catching fire one time. Then the Feds gave each resident $700 and left. Lahaina remains burnt to the ground.

quote:

Originally posted by ryan81986:
LA's chief was awful, but she was only dismissed after calling out the city for their gross mismanagement.

They're denying it.

quote:

LA fires live updates: Mayor’s office denies axing fire chief as pair meet after Crowley blasted city leaders over budget

https://nypost.com/2025/01/09/...ve-updates-01-09-25/

OK. Here we go.
Worked Sunday, off Monday, worked Tuesday when the madness started. I was in the northern part of the County (Santa Clarita) when all the fires started. I had a one structure fire on tue afternoon- started in between 2 houses and involved both garages and the fence in between- moderate damage to both garages, fence gone, overall homes saved. We had plenty of warning prior to this red flag wind event, so we had extra units staffed throughout the county. While dealing with this fire we had 2 brush responses break out, so the county started diverted resources as needed. I started my career in the La Canada/Altadena area before I moved north. I wasn't involved in that area this event, but watching my old stomping grounds burn was just terrible. All night Tuesday I was pretty isolated comm-wise from the Palisades incident, but heard everything on radio freq LaCo Disp1 and Command10 with Altadena. Listening to Engine crews and Chiefs all night long calling in structure fire, after fire, after fire...asking for additional resources with no other engine companies available. We were fully committed and surrounded, and it was all they could do to protect lives at the expense of property. That's our mission- Lives, Property, Environment- in that order. I felt there, and 1000 miles away at the same time.
I've lived in LA all my life, and worked in EMS over 20 years and I have never seen this amount of property loss from a fire. I've seen bigger fires by acreage, but never entire communities just gone....gone...ashes.
I was trying to tune into the news during it all, and I just became angry. Talk about missing the fucking point. We had crews busting their ass and the media and talking heads are playing games. Yes the hydrants have no pressure in upper elevations, we dont have air support due to the 80mph winds, and even if we had all the water and aerial fire resources in the world, it wouldn't make a fucking dent. Folks, you have never, I repeat never, seen a fire move this fast and this hot. If there's a hell, we got the closest look at it from this mortal ground.

Wednesday-
The winds calmed a bit, and now the smoke really fills the air and chokes you. It was already so dusty and dry no amount of water and chap stick could help. We finally got some air coverage, but water still sucked in most areas- at higher elevations. Im not going to go into the political bullshit of why we didnt have enough water. There is not a place on this fucking planet that has the capability to handle fires like this on their best day with maximum preparedness. If 300 homes went up in your city at once, good luck with water pressure after 1 hr. Los Angeles has hand down the best firefighting system in the world to handle large scale brush fires. Yes DEI made the departments weaker, but the system is still the best. We have mastered it as best we could, because we have to. I could take any entire State in the nation, any state... and they would have failed this test worse than we did. Despite CA's and LAs fuckery, we did a damn good job with the odds stacked against us.
Wednesday for me was odd, started covering mostly usual 911 calls, then got bounced around the county to various incidents to cover/relieve other crews. I felt like I really wasn't contributing much which pissed me off.
Thursday-
I wanted to get into the action. Got attached to the Creek Fire for all of 4-5 hours, moved back to SCV where I ran more regular 911 calls. The only difference was we had like 5 engines on standby vs 15, so medical calls we just dealt with on our own. I kept in touch with the front line crews during the day for updates, and was finally able to turn into the news a bit.

I don't know what else to tell you. Just heard Chief Crowley got canned by Mayor Bass on the internet- probably not true. The City is gonna circle the wagons on this one. I know Crowley from many years ago. She was a good firefighter and takes care of her people, but its not a secret she got fast tracked to Chief ahead of many others.
LA city is fucked from top to bottom. The County is right there with them.

I have tonight and tomorrow off, back at it Sunday.
I dont care what your politics are, seeing thousands of homes burned like a nuke went off will change your perspective. There are several people I know personally who have lost everything.
Again, my entire life and career here. Nothing even close to this bad when it comes to loss from fire.

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
Reminds you of the debacle in Hawaii . Who was held accountable ?

Lahaina it was the blame game, and pointing fingers. Then the raisin flew down there and talked about his Corvette or some such shit “almost” catching fire one time. Then the Feds gave each resident $700 and left. Lahaina remains burnt to the ground.

I loved your insight into Lahaina due to your time spent there. I've spent a fair amount of time in Maui due to my SIL and daughter and their family living there. To say most residents are pissed about the Fed and State response was inadequate doesn't quite say it all. We'll see how all this turns out???

EDIT: As of last October Lahaina remained as you say. Burnt to the ground

quote:

There are several people I know personally who have lost everything.
Again, my entire life and career here. Nothing even close to this bad when it comes to loss from fire.

My heart goes out to you and your community.
Prayers and best wishes. Get some sleep.

Post Script-
Dryest winter ever in Los Angeles. We had one tiny little drizzle on Christmas Eve, but no real rain for months. This is unusual weather here for sure- very La Nina type weather pattern. Were not exepected to get any signifiicant rainfall for weeks, possibly a month +. Santa Ana winds used to be Oct/Nov problems. The report says low humidity and high winds for the next week. The winds have shifted tonight- now blowing all the fires north which is bad for the Palisades fire, because its going toward the homes in the San Fernando Valley/Calabasas area.

quote:

Originally posted by medic451:

I have tonight and tomorrow off, back at it Sunday.

Just do us all a favor, and STAY SAFE!
You need anything, please let me know!

Reminds you of the debacle in Hawaii . Who was held accountable ?[/QUOTE]

Lahaina it was the blame game, and pointing fingers. Then the raisin flew down there and talked about his Corvette or some such shit “almost” catching fire one time. Then the Feds gave each resident $700 and left. Lahaina remains burnt to the ground.[/QUOTE]

I loved your insight into Lahaina due to your time spent there. I've spent a fair amount of time in Maui due to my SIL and daughter and their family living there. To say most residents are pissed about the Fed and State response was inadequate doesn't quite say it all. We'll see how all this turns out???

EDIT: As of last October Lahaina remained as you say. Burnt to the ground [/QUOTE]

My brother who is a retired city chief building official, Just moved to Lahaina this week to run the permit center for the rebuilding of the town. His company was contracted for the job because it’s beyond what the local department is capable of doing. They just don’t have the expertise or staffing for a job this large.

He ran a similar situation for the Oakland hills fire back in the 90’s.

His company is composed of very experienced retired building officials.

He is now part of their emergency management department and is slated to go to N Carolina and he thinks that he will be flown in to LA for rebuilding assistance too.

I asked him if it was going to be big hotels going in or trying to get the historic charm of Front Street rebuilt. He told me that he doesn’t know and that he has no say about any of that. His job is to just call balls and strikes on the plans submitted to his department.

All these fires are heartbreaking…

quote:

Originally posted by medic451:
Post Script-
Dryest winter ever in Los Angeles. We had one tiny little drizzle on Christmas Eve, but no real rain for months. This is unusual weather here for sure- very La Nina type weather pattern. Were not exepected to get any signifiicant rainfall for weeks, possibly a month +. Santa Ana winds used to be Oct/Nov problems. The report says low humidity and high winds for the next week. The winds have shifted tonight- now blowing all the fires north which is bad for the Palisades fire, because its going toward the homes in the San Fernando Valley/Calabasas area.

Thanks for the perspective, stay safe out there.

Thank you Medic451…

I truly appreciate your viewpoint from the Heart!

Medic451, I certainly can relate as Sandy was the perfect storm for us, everything you described was all the stars aligning to lay this down on LA.
The frontline guys, in your case, are battling even harder, due to the incompetence of your leaders. May God be with you and your fellow firefighters.

The latest concern has been a large flare-up in the Palisades area that prompted new evacuation orders from Sunset Boulevard north to Encino Reservoir, and from the 405 Freeway west to Mandeville Canyon. This area includes Brentwood and the foothills of the San Fernando Valley.

LA Times warned: "The Palisades fire can now be seen across Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, an unsettling development as officials worried about the fire expanding into neighborhoods in Encino and Brentwood and possibly jumping the 405 freeway into Bel Air."

Josh Sautter, president of the Encino Neighborhood Council, told the media outlet that the latest round of evacuation orders sent panic through the community.

"I don't think that people here really saw that it was coming," Sautter said, adding, "We didn't think that it was something that would really affect us — until it did."



https://www.zerohedge.com/mark...rns-near-405-freeway

Neighboring States Want to Help, but…

In my experience, Cal Fire is responsible for much of the high cost of wildland firefighting.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
Neighboring States Want to Help, but…

Evidently expediency is not part of the solution, but bureaucracy is.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
Neighboring States Want to Help, but…

In my experience, Cal Fire is responsible for much of the high cost of wildland firefighting.

Partial true.
Yes inspections are necessary, they're done in multiple locations, not just in the Sacto-area; if you're coming from up north, you're going through Sac anyways. The main point is to make sure they've got the necessary gear, their gear works and most importantly their fire rigs are in good shape for the drive both going & coming. Wasn't unusual for responding agencies to send their lowest end gear, rigs that weren't maintained regularly, or under equipped crews, then upon their return, bill the state/FEMA for all sorts of repairs or, replacements that went well beyond the situation they were assigned.
Mutual aid bureaucracy is an easy fraud honeypot that other states would pull on each other. Close friend is an inspector with CA DOT, he'd handle the mechanical/operation inspections and noted some rigs would show up with old tires, partially functioning lights, lubricant leaks all about; some crews would show up with a bare minimum of kit- a few hoses that wren't long enough, a small handful of tools hoping that upon their arrival they'd be given all manor of gear.

quote:

Originally posted by Biker_dude:

quote:

Originally posted by ryan81986:
LA's chief was awful, but she was only dismissed after calling out the city for their gross mismanagement.

They're denying it.

quote:

LA fires live updates: Mayor’s office denies axing fire chief as pair meet after Crowley blasted city leaders over budget

https://nypost.com/2025/01/09/...ve-updates-01-09-25/

Interesting. Crowley and Bass are on TV together right now, giving a press conference.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
Neighboring States Want to Help, but…

In my experience, Cal Fire is responsible for much of the high cost of wildland firefighting.

This is the more infuriating part...

Sacramento Bottles Up 60 Oregon Firetrucks Sent to Assist California Fire Fight, Lacking Smog Certificates

Now it sounds like a racket or, a money-grab

^^ Pretty sure any 'Smog' created/emitted by the substandard evil/dirty non-CA compliant Fire Trucks pales in comparison to all the Smoke from the widespread disaster of the DEVASTATING Out-of-Control WILDFIRES that likely would not have occurred (at least at this level of severity!) if it were not for idiotic policies and incompetence of the do-nothings in charge at ALL levels in CA gov't!

These people have their heads up their Ass!

Thanks for the “man on the scene” report Medic451, stay safe and post as you can.

Tragic for all, I can’t even fathom that scale of destruction.