Even the best-prepared fire departments in the world can’t do much when inferno-like fires break out in Los Angeles, US, experts say.
Among the many areas still burning out of control in Los Angeles, the largest blaze has grown to more than 10,000 square feet overnight.
At least 319,000 people have been ordered to evacuate or are in areas with evacuation warnings. As the battle continues, questions are being asked: Was Los Angeles prepared enough?
Clayton Colbert may be the person best placed to answer that question. A resident of Malibu for 45 years, he stayed when the Palisades fire broke out. Colbert thought he could pump water from his beach house to douse smoldering hot spots.
“Our fire hose is over there,” Colbert said, pointing in the direction of his improvised equipment. “We knew this was going to happen.”
Then Colbert was exhausted. Black ash still clung to his eyelids. Colbert was relieved that his house, sandwiched between Pacific Coast Highway and the beach, was still intact.
But his neighbor’s house was engulfed in flames. Two firefighters and a fire truck couldn’t save it.
“I fought the fire for 48 hours or more,” Colbert said. “At one point, 24 hours went by without a fire truck, a fireman, or anyone.”
The disaster is out of control
According to experts, no amount of resources can save the situation. People often lament helplessness in areas where fires occur, especially when their fire hoses are already dry.
However, with the Santa Ana winds as strong as hurricanes, Colbert is not sure what else can be done to deal with the situation.
“Listen, if you see what happened in the Palisades and other places, 6,000 firefighters are not enough,” Colbert said.
There are still critics who say why they didn’t act sooner, or blame this or that.
“We did everything we could. If I had 1,000 vehicles to fight this fire, frankly, I wouldn’t be able to do it,” Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley told CBS News.
Only in recent hours has the wind eased enough for planes to drop water on the flames. From a nearby beach, pairs of planes skim the Pacific Ocean, filling their bellies with water and flying straight over the Santa Monica Mountains to douse the flames, loop after loop.
Los Angeles is a city built on fire-prone terrain, from its famous coastline to its rugged, densely populated canyons.
The Los Angeles Fire Department has long been known as a pioneer in firefighting, with experience in fighting urban wildfires. Fire departments from across the western United States come here to learn from it.
But this past week has tested even the best firefighters, according to researcher Edith de Guzman of the University of California, Los Angeles.
“The fires smolder miles apart. The ignition is extremely difficult to predict or control, and it’s happening in so many places at the same time,” De Guzman said.
Wooden houses and climate change make things worse
Climate change is accelerating extreme events, De Guzman said. The past two years have been extremely wet, which has helped the vegetation grow. But this year? So far, there has been no rain.
Experts say that even the world’s best-prepared fire departments can do little when this week’s inferno erupts.
Complicating matters, De Guzman said, all the wooden houses here were built in the early 20th century to withstand earthquakes.
“The infrastructure and development are a legacy of a less extreme climate. There were fewer people,” she said.
