The flames of the Palisades Fires initially went against the winds and burned east.
This editor spoke to an anonymous source, who pointed out that the flames of the Palisades Fire that started in the Highlands on January 7, were initially pushing against the wind towards the east and toward Will Rogers State Park.
Numerous residents have photos of the fire progressing slowly towards the east. At one point in the late afternoon/early evening, the wind caught the flames and drove it to the Pacific Ocean, destroying nearly 7,000 homes in the Alphabet Streets, Via de las Olas Bluffs and Will Rogers..
The question was, “What fire resources were assigned to that Eastern flank and when.”
Circling the News made a public records request on March 8, “At the start of the Palisades Fire on January 7, how many engines/firefighters were assigned to the Eastern flank of the fire and where were they located?”
On March 10, CTN received an email that request, 25-3441, had been closed. The response is below:
The Palisades incidents are the subject of an active investigation by the ATF National Response Team, which prevents information related to the fire from being disclosed at this time.
The Department is cognizant of its responsibilities under the Act. It recognizes the statutory scheme was enacted to maximize citizen access to the workings of government. The Act does not mandate disclosure of all documents within the government’s possession.
Rather, by specific exemption and reference to other statutes, the Act recognizes that there are boundaries where the public’s right to access must be balanced against such weighty considerations as the right of privacy, a right of constitutional dimension under California Constitution, Article 1, Section 1.
The law also exempts from disclosure records that are privileged or confidential or otherwise exempt under either express provisions of the Act or pursuant to applicable federal or state law, per California Government Code Sections 7927.705, 7922.000, and 7928.300.
This request is considered closed.
Will they ever catch the kids that set off the fireworks on New Year’s Eve at the trailhead in the Highlands? 100,000 dollar reward?
A much larger question looms: Why was the investigation being done by the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms National Response Team, unless some or all of those items were involved in the fire moving East, against the wind? The KEY point here is that all those items do not occur naturally in nature. They had to be deliberately placed by a person or persons. It is probably an ongoing investigation, which is why the details cannot be disclosed until after the investigation is complete and the person or persons involved have been identified and apprehended. However, the ATF does have a responsibility to disclose all those facts once their investigation is complete.
Given the drone footage shown, I believe, in one edition of CTN showing the embers igniting very, very close to the site of the fire on 1/1/25 due to fireworks, I agree with Doug above……where are those who shot off those fireworks those early hours on new Years? I appreciate, as well, the comment above about why ATF.
Sue, again, thank you for your tireless efforts to gain and to disseminate the information!
I too watched the flames move east across the mountains above the Alphabets. I thought it was so odd. From about 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM the fire moved east but did not move towards the Alphabets. The entire time I was on my roof I thought a solitary house at the top was about to catch fire but it never did. I finally got off the roof when the fire had burned far enough east that the smoke was blowing over my head. At 3:00 the smoke was at least a mile away. The wind direction never changed.
I agree even at 4 standing in the Ralph’s parking lot on my way out, I
thought no way is this going to move this way.
The fire came down Temescal canyon park. The High school was on fire at 4pm. As was nearly all of Temescal to the ocean. I evacuated that route and saw it with my own eyes. So while it may have seemed still up high on the ridge, it was incredibly close to the village by 4pm. The nursery and homes along Radcliffe were fully engulfed in flames when I drove by around 4.
I was driving around Sunset/Chautauqua/Muskingham from 4:30-5:30 pm on Tuesday when the fire jumped Sunset, and set Pali High on fire. The wind was blowing strongly East and the embers were setting the hill above Muskingham afire and threatening the central village and all the houses on the bluffs and along Potrero Canyon. There was not a single fire truck there. Me and another fellow started using garden hoses to set out the small ember fires…they were not a big deal but there were many of them…until the got to be too many. I finally located a single firetruck on Antioch but he didn’t have time for us. Had there been 2-3 rigs parked there with water, the fire would have been stopped there. But we’ll never know as the fire department never showed up. Around 10 pom I finally found a few dozen firetrucks neatly parked on Will Rogers Beach, with the crews sipping coffee, joking amongst themselves and setting up that giant elevated state for their all night 20 member press conferences. At no point in the entire night did I see an LA Firefighter fighting a fire. There were a couple of out of county trucks there but that was it. There was also the Pacific Ocean right there, kind of a nice water supply when needed.
Hey, Finn-Olfaf-Jones, working on an investigative report about the situation. Could you email me at kaizersozhe@yahoo.com? Would really like to talk.