With a forecast of dangerous winds, LAFD pre-deploys to avoid failings of Palisades fire
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Bracing for another round of extreme fire weather conditions, Los Angeles Fire Department officials on Monday had staffed all of its available extra engines and staged 30 engines in fire risk areas, measures they failed to take before the deadly Palisades fire, according to internal records and officials.
Fire officials told reporters Monday that the agency also ordered the outgoing shift of about 1,000 firefighters to remain on duty to staff the extra engines.
The actions came after The Times found that the LAFD decided not to take those drastic measures Jan. 7, despite extraordinary warnings from the National Weather Service that a life-threatening and destructive windstorm was going to hit the region.
Mayor Karen Bass said that the city was “well-positioned” to deal with any possible fires.
“I believe that we will be very, very prepared for what the worst possible case scenario [is] over the next couple of days, and then hopefully we don’t get there at all,” Bass told reporters at the Monday morning news conference.
“The pre-deployment is very, very thoughtful and strategic,” LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley said at the news conference. She said fire patrols and engines were positioned in high-risk areas, including Sun Valley, Woodland Hills, West Los Angeles and Hollywood.
She said extra firefighters would staff available engines to backfill for the 20 LAFD engines that are still assigned to the Palisades fire, along with other state and federal resources. She said firefighters were continuing to handle regular 911 calls elsewhere in the city.
“We’re extremely busy in the city,” Crowley said. “That is our job to ensure that we’re providing that 911 service ongoing, on top of pre-deploying, augmenting and still responding to the Palisades fire.”
Officials in both the Palisades and Eaton fire zones have also issued parking restrictions in specific locations to allow for rapid response and evacuation to hillside communities if a fire ignites.
As of Monday morning, the Palisades fire was 59% contained. It has burned more than 23,713 acres, destroyed at least 6,051 structures and killed at least 10 people.
The weather service has issued a “particularly dangerous situation” warning, which went into effect at noon Monday and will last through 10 a.m. Tuesday in parts of Los Angeles County and most of Ventura County. Such a warning had also been issued on Jan. 7 when the Palisades fire ignited.
A “particularly dangerous situation” is an enhancement of a red flag warning, which already warns of critical fire weather and the rapid spread of fire should an ignition occur.
To add to the danger, the region has had negligible rain since May, and brush and other vegetation are very dry.
“This may be one of the driest fire weather events that we’ve seen so far this year,” said Rose Schoenfeld, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Oxnard.
That means that once a blaze starts, “extreme fire weather and behavior is probable,” Crowley said.
Peak gusts of 50 mph to 70 mph are possible along the coast and valleys and 60 mph to 100 mph in the mountains and foothills, while sustained winds are expected to be 25 mph to 40 mph.
Ahead of Jan. 7, the weather service warned of damaging wind gusts of 50 mph to 80 mph, with isolated gusts of 80 mph to 100 mph in the mountains and foothills.
This week’s Santa Ana winds are expected take a more traditional, easterly track, which could affect different areas.
Forecasters expect the winds could be particularly fierce in the corridor that extends from Palmdale toward points southwest, including Santa Clarita and Ventura and smaller towns in the Santa Clara River valley.
Thirteen years ago, the LAFD took the type of dramatic measures in preparation of dangerous winds that the department failed to employ last week in advance of the Palisades fire.
The LAFD has been criticized for its preparation for the devastating winds that sparked the Palisades fire.
Crowley and other top officials have defended their decisions, saying they had to juggle limited resources while continuing to handle 911 calls unrelated to the fire, which doubled the day it started because of wind damage elsewhere in the city. LAFD officials have also said that the firefighting effort was hampered by budget constraints and low water levels for some fire hydrants.
LAFD spokesperson Karla Tovar said in an email that it was “unreasonable” to compare staffing and predeployment efforts between the two wind events.
“The approach taken on January 7 had to contend with limited resources and budget constraints,” Tovar said. “At that time, we did our best to manage within the available budget and resources.”
This week, LAFD had access to more resources because of the declaration of local, state and federal emergencies, she said.
But as The Times reported last week, the LAFD decided not to tap several dozen available engines to join the fight against any fires fueled by the Jan. 7 winds. And the commander in charge of the preparations told The Times that enough engines and firefighters were in place to respond to the threat.
During his inaugural address Monday, President Trump attacked officials in California for being unable to stop the Palisades and Eaton fires, which killed at least 27 people and destroyed thousands of homes.
In Los Angeles, he said, “we are watching fires still tragically burn from weeks ago without even a token of defense.”
“They’re raging through the houses and communities even affecting some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in our country, some of whom are sitting here right now,” he said.
“We can’t let this happen. Everyone is unable to do anything about it. That’s going to change.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office responded to the remarks on X by posting Trump’s words, “Without a token of defense,” along with photos of firefighters — on foot and in a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection helicopter — battling flames.
Coverage of the firefighters’ battle against Eaton and Palisades fires, including stories about the dangerous weather and victim frustration.
The Times found that before the Jan. 7 windstorm, no extra engines had been placed in Pacific Palisades, as had been done in the past. The fire broke out there about 10:30 a.m. The department had pre-positioned nine engines in the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood, expecting that fires might break out there. Officials said they moved more engines “first thing in the morning” to also cover Northeast L.A.
Fire officials chose not to order 1,000 firefighters to remain on duty for a second shift that day as the winds were building — which would have doubled the personnel on hand — and staffed just five of more than 40 engines that were available to supplement the regular firefighting force in battling wildfires.
Known internally as 200 Series engines, they are identical to other engines and usually paired with hook and ladder trucks, which do not carry water. They are typically staffed by a single engineer. When needed for wildfires, they carry four firefighters.
They also chose not to staff a set of nine “ready reserve” engines — known internally as the 400 Series — which are supposed to be available for weather emergencies and sometimes to replace broken rigs at fire stations. Officials said two of the nine were out of service and needed to be replaced.
Battalion Chief Patrick Leonard said the outgoing shift of firefighters was not ordered to continue working before the fire Jan. 7 because “we didn’t have apparatus for another 1,000 members,” including engines.
On Monday, fire officials decided to staff all the available 200 and 400 Series engines, according to an internal planning document. Leonard did not address why they did not do that before the Palisades fire.
Of the roughly 1,000 firefighters who were initially ordered to stay at work to staff the extra engines Monday, 239 ended up working overtime, Tovar said.
Times staff writers Paul Pringle, Julia Wick and Hailey Branson-Potts contributed to this report.
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