Since the Eaton and Palisades fires, there has been report after report documenting how woefully unprepared city, county and fire officials were. This week’s upcoming Santa Ana winds will provide one of the first major tests of whether Los Angeles has applied those painful lessons.
A red flag alert is in place across most of Los Angeles and Ventura counties from 6 a.m. Thursday through 10 p.m. Friday, with forecasters warning of sustained winds of 20 to 40 mph and gusts of 40 to 60 mph. The powerful Santa Anas will coincide with toasty temperatures of 85 to 95 degrees and low humidity rates of between 5% and 15% across much of the region.
“There’s a high risk for any new fires to grow really fast,” said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
Reviews of last year’s firestorm revealed critical failures to pre-stage resources, especially in the Palisades where no engines were deployed in advance of the fire’s start, despite warnings of extreme weather. The city of L.A. also drew criticism for the fact that the Santa Ynez Reservoir was dry during the firestorm, while the L.A. Fire Department’s own after-action report described major failures by high-ranking commanders in communication, staffing and basic wildland firefighting knowledge.
Both the L.A. city and county fire departments are strategically pre-deploying personnel and equipment in advance of this week’s dangerous fire weather. The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services is also positioning additional firefighters, aircraft and equipment in Orange, Ventura, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara counties.
Mayor Karen Bass’ office projected confidence that the city was better prepared to handle upcoming red flag conditions.
A spokesperson for the mayor said that all L.A. Department of Water and Power tanks that service hillside areas are full of water, and all open-air reservoirs remain available for firefighting support — with no current concerns about water pressure in the city’s hydrant system.
LAFD Chief Jaime Moore has implemented more than 90% of the recommendations from the department’s after-action review, and is working to implement the changes outlined in an independent report commissioned by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the spokesperson said. Improved preparations include increased wildfire drills, more training on the incident command system, more evacuation planning as well as earlier briefings and tactical meetings to improve pre-deployment.
L.A. County also drew sharp criticism for its handling of the Eaton fire — in particular for the delay in evacuations in west Altadena, where almost all of the fire’s 19 deaths occurred. A report commissioned by the Board of Supervisors found that agencies struggled to monitor rapidly unfolding events without streamlined coordination tools and operated with “unclear” and “outdated” policies and protocols when deciding when to send evacuation warnings and orders.
Southern California Edison was considering implementing public safety power shutoffs for nearly 90,000 customers in L.A. County and 125,000 customers in Santa Barbara County as of Tuesday. By de-energizing powerlines, utility providers seek to lesson the chances that a electrical spark could be whipped by winds into to a devastating blaze.
The L.A. County Fire Department is augmenting staffing by around 100 personnel on Thursday and Friday, according to department spokesperson Pauline McGee. The department is pre-staging resources such as fire engines, strike teams, camp crews, water tenders and drone crews in known high-risk areas including Malibu, the 101 Freeway corridor and the Antelope Valley, she said.
Access to Topanga Canyon Boulevard will be restricted to residents only between Mulholland Drive and Pacific Coast Highway during the red flag event, with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department staffing checkpoints.
On Tuesday morning, LAFD Capt. Anthony Tubbs said it was too early to know precisely what resources will be positioned and where, noting that “those decisions are made based on the information that we’re provided by the National Weather Service forecasters and our command staff goes through their decision-making process minute by minute.”
But as with any fire weather conditions, the Santa Monica Mountains and brushy areas of the San Fernando Valley will be a concern, he said.
While Tropical Storm Rachel delivered some recent rain to Southern California, it largely missed L.A. County. Areas west of the 405 Freeway have received essentially no rain and are at the highest risk for wildfire, said Daniel Swain, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources climate scientist.
This red flag warning in place this week is a step below the rare “particularly dangerous situation” warning that was issued before the start of the Palisades and Eaton blazes.
“This is not January 2025. The winds are not going to be anywhere near as strong. They will not be as widespread. The vegetation is not as dry,” Swain said. “So every single factor is less extreme than in January 2025.”
Nonetheless, officials are urging residents to be prepared in the event of a fire start, as blazes will still have the potential to spread rapidly and strain firefighting resources, especially if winds blow strong enough to ground aircraft.
Closures are also under consideration for Leo Carrillo, Malibu Creek, Point Mugu, Topanga, Will Rogers and Santa Susana Pass state parks, with visitors advised to check the Angeles District website for the latest information on conditions.
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