It was a typical sunny Sunday afternoon in Santa Monica, with many people enjoying the beach, eating brunch, and walking their dogs.
But just above the Pacific Coast Highway in the Pacific Palisades and east of Malibu, officials say rapid, extremely dry winds are expected to blow across the region over the next few days, leading to possible Preparations were underway to conduct a ground battle against a large fire.
Palisades Fire spokesman Dan Collins said 5,677 fire and law enforcement personnel were assigned to the fire, including personnel from Canada, Israel and South Africa.
He said additional Cal Fire “incident management teams” are stationed in Beaumont and ready to assist if strong winds lead to further flare-ups, as some fear. Ta.
Hundreds of emergency response vehicles lined up for miles along the prime coastline of Palisades and Malibu, alongside the blackened skeletons and crumbling chimneys of beach homes and businesses.
Dozens of sun-bleached tents marking a makeshift National Guard encampment just above the beach were buzzing with activity ahead of expected fire weather.
In one particularly surreal scene, a Guard Humvee sat surrounded by tall palm trees outside the stately entrance of the Bel Air Bay Club in Pacific Palisades.
Fire engines from as far away as San Diego and Contra Costa counties were parked bumper-to-bumper in a straight line.
Law enforcement vehicles drove up and down PCH with their lights flashing.
And dozens of Southern California Edison trucks lined the winding coastal highway. Other multi-purpose trucks fanned out from Topanga Canyon to Sunset Boulevard, digging trenches to reach buried lines, repairing damaged electrical equipment and more to do as much damage as possible before wind speeds got too high. I tried to repair it.
Meanwhile, the National Weather Service on Sunday issued its most extreme red flag fire weather warning for much of Southern California, including the Malibu and Altadena burn areas. The “particularly dangerous situation” warning will go into effect at midday on Monday and will last until 10am on Tuesday. Wind gusts are expected to be 50 to 70 mph along the coast and valleys, 60 to 80 mph in the foothills, and isolated gusts up to 160 mph.
The warning came as firefighters scrambled to tighten containment of the Palisades and Eaton fires. As of Sunday, the Palisades Fire, which had burned more than 23,700 acres and killed at least 10 people, was 52% contained, according to Cal Fire. The Eaton Fire has burned more than 14,000 acres and killed at least 17 people, but is 81% contained.
Michelle Harrison and her husband lost their home in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County, just outside the Malibu city limits, when the Palisades Fire broke out on January 7th.
Now, Harrison said Sunday she’s worried about people who may face more dangerous weather in Malibu this week.
“It’s just tragic,” she said. “We hope we have enough firefighters here to stop any fires that may occur in the next few days, and I think we’re doing that right now.”
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