The 2021 California wildfire season has started.

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The Palisades Fire has prompted ongoing evacuation orders and warnings in a zone about 20 miles west of downtown Los Angeles.

It's charred more than 1,320 acres since it was reported Friday and is still 0% contained, Los Angeles County fire officials said Sunday. California has been in a massive drought for weeks, and experts worry it will only get drier and hotter, creating the potential for another devastating wildfire season.

About 1,000 people had been evacuated from their homes by Sunday morning, Los Angeles City Fire spokesperson David Ortiz said. And on Sunday afternoon, the Los Angeles Fire Department issued an evacuation warning for additional homes, urging residents to be on standby. "Gather your valuables, medicines etc and load them into your car so you are ready if asked to evacuate," the department said.

Roughly 300 firefighters battled the blaze over the weekend, working to keep the flames out of an area that hasn't burned in more than 50 years, Ortiz said. "There's a lot of dense, thick material there, oily plants that have dried out because of the drought," Ortiz said Sunday. "So, that's our objective today: to try to keep it out of that and protect the communities and neighborhoods that are to the west of this fire because that's what's closest to it."

Those drought conditions, coupled with the gusty winds the area is expected to see in the coming days, will likely pose some of the biggest challenges in containing the fire.

"Sundowner winds will be ramping up this week, starting tomorrow night, then peaking Tue afternoon-Thu evening with gusts 35-55 mph (strongest Gaviota to San Marcos Pass), causing elevated fire weather concerns," the National Weather Service Los Angeles wrote Sunday on Twitter.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/17/us/palis ... index.html

The cause is suspected to be arson.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: The 2021 California wildfire season has started.

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featureless wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 11:55 am It's going to be a rough summer here in California, and many other areas along the west coast. I'm seeing trees that aren't making it already, brownish or dead. Fire season now seems to run May through whenever the rains decide to return. November? December? Who knows. We still need the secret wind ingredient for the mega fires, but it will come.

The drought looks bad for CA, most of the state is in "extreme drought" including the Bay Area and LA County. Northern and Southern California look equally bad.
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentM ... or.aspx?CA

East of the Mississippi looks better but they have other disasters.
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu

Newsom should stop playing Santa Claus and work on mitigating more wild fires and train a lot more firefighters to back up full time staff. Hope Biden's Interior and Agriculture secretaries are working on fire mitigation in national parks and forests. I agree it's going to be a long hot, dry smoky summer with black outs because utilities turn off electricity so they don't start fires. And the Cal ISO grid fails again and out of state electricity isn't available.

I'm still seeing So Cal Edison out replacing power polls and cables in my area, cheaper than paying lawsuits for their equipment causing fires.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: The 2021 California wildfire season has started.

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Bisbee wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 1:20 pm Indeed, I’ve seen Edison actively replacing power poles and lines in Monrovia as well.
Hopefully with new poles and lines we won't get our power turned off this summer under their Public Safety Power Shutoff program. I experienced it last summer and that was enough for me.


An arson investigation into the Pacific Palisades fire, which started late Friday, has led to the arrest of a suspect, authorities said Monday.

Two people were questioned Saturday night about the fire, which has forced the evacuation of about 1,000 residents. One person was released, and the other — a man who has not been identified — was arrested Sunday afternoon, Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Ralph Terrazas said at a briefing at Will Rogers State Beach.

“The person in custody, we feel we have the right person,” Terrazas said.

The man was being treated for minor smoke inhalation, authorities said. A source told The Times that the suspect is a person experiencing homelessness who set multiple fires in the area in a deliberate act of arson.
When asked at the briefing whether the suspect was homeless, Terrazas answered: “I don’t know.”

A Los Angeles Police Department helicopter pilot spotted the suspect setting fires on Friday, but investigators were unable to locate the man on the ground because of smoke and heavy brush, according to law enforcement and fire department officials.

Reports and photos of an “arson suspect” surfaced Saturday on the Citizen App, which promoted a $30,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies briefly detained the man in the photo around midnight but later let him go. Sources told The Times that he was not the individual who had been spotted earlier setting fires.

But it was too late; the Citizen App received a torrent of criticisms on Twitter for falsely accusing the man.

“OK, I’ve turned against the Citizen app,” tweeted comedian Kathy Griffin. “The hosts are offering a $30K reward for completely unsubstantiated evidence regarding a homeless guy who they think started the #Palisadesfire. Now people are trying to hunt him down. No proof it was even arson much less this guy. Gross.”
More than 500 personnel are actively fighting the fire, according to Terrazas, who said no lives or homes have been lost. One firefighter suffered a minor injury. He asked that hikers stay away from the canyons.
https://www.latimes.com/california/stor ... sades-fire
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

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