"On January 7th, all hell broke loose when the first 911 call came in at 10:29 am, reporting that a fire had broken out on a sandy ridge in the Palisades. The fire quickly spread, burning 23,448 acres after being active for 17 days. But how in the world did this fire even start and what are other departments doing to help?"--Ruby Deetz, 8th grade
On January 7th, all hell broke loose when the first 911 call came in at 10:29 am, reporting that a fire had broken out on a sandy ridge in the Palisades. The fire quickly spread, burning 23,448 acres after being active for 17 days. But how in the world did this fire even start?
On January 1st, a brush fire was spotted in the area of the ridgeline of the LA Palisades sometime after midnight by residents of the nearby Palisades Highlands neighborhood. Many people believe that this fire somehow reignited and is responsible for starting the Palisades fire.
The fire quickly grew and it became immensely clear that the LAFD needed help and fire departments statewide didn't wait a moment more to jump into action. According to Oakland Fire Department public information officer Michael Hunt, the first OFD team left for Los Angeles on January 7th at around 11 pm. To assist with coordinating command efforts on the ground, the department dispatched 19 firefighters as of Monday, January 13th, including three engine companies, one water tender, and three additional senior department personnel.
The San Francisco Fire Department also went to LA to help. The department reported sending 29 personnel. On January 20th, a team of ten urban search-and-rescue-trained firemen from Oakland, Hayward, and Fremont were also dispatched to Los Angeles specifically to help in the search for bodies in burned areas.
With fires raging in Southern California, wildfire risk becomes more of a concern to other parts of California with people questioning the readiness of our fire departments. “I think every time fire departments work cross agencies it strengthens the bond between the departments and it’s also where improvements are needed,” says SFFD firefighter Samuel Schmutz. “We have an incident command system in firefighting where we all operate under different branches. So the more that the state and local departments work together, the better that organization works.”
However, the Palisades fire wasn’t the only fire that had ignited in the area. Two other fires started the same day in Eatons and Hughes. While the cause of these fires are still unknown, evidence strongly suggests that the cause for the Eatons fire had something to do with power lines. The fire started in the dry grasses below a set of transmission towers carrying high-energy power lines. The beginnings of the Hughes fire was caught on the UC San Diego security cameras but officials are still unsure of the cause.
“I think that fires in LA show us that the wild and setting can be in our biggest cities here in California. It also reminds us of fires like the ones in the Oakland Hills,” says Schmutz when asked about the Bay Area’s readiness to deal with wildfires here. “It shows us the risk of wildfires to come to our cities and It's not just back in the 80’s and 90’s, it's here right now so I think it's a good reminder that it's important to have your firefighters and it's important to prepare for future events like that.”
Amelia Whitcomb, a Literary Arts teacher at OSA, however, thinks that these wildfires are impossible to prevent. “I think it is just unfortunately something that we have to prepare for. It's an inevitability rather than something we are able to do much to prevent in advance.”
On January 1st, a brush fire was spotted in the area of the ridgeline of the LA Palisades sometime after midnight by residents of the nearby Palisades Highlands neighborhood. Many people believe that this fire somehow reignited and is responsible for starting the Palisades fire.
The fire quickly grew and it became immensely clear that the LAFD needed help and fire departments statewide didn't wait a moment more to jump into action. According to Oakland Fire Department public information officer Michael Hunt, the first OFD team left for Los Angeles on January 7th at around 11 pm. To assist with coordinating command efforts on the ground, the department dispatched 19 firefighters as of Monday, January 13th, including three engine companies, one water tender, and three additional senior department personnel.
The San Francisco Fire Department also went to LA to help. The department reported sending 29 personnel. On January 20th, a team of ten urban search-and-rescue-trained firemen from Oakland, Hayward, and Fremont were also dispatched to Los Angeles specifically to help in the search for bodies in burned areas.
With fires raging in Southern California, wildfire risk becomes more of a concern to other parts of California with people questioning the readiness of our fire departments. “I think every time fire departments work cross agencies it strengthens the bond between the departments and it’s also where improvements are needed,” says SFFD firefighter Samuel Schmutz. “We have an incident command system in firefighting where we all operate under different branches. So the more that the state and local departments work together, the better that organization works.”
However, the Palisades fire wasn’t the only fire that had ignited in the area. Two other fires started the same day in Eatons and Hughes. While the cause of these fires are still unknown, evidence strongly suggests that the cause for the Eatons fire had something to do with power lines. The fire started in the dry grasses below a set of transmission towers carrying high-energy power lines. The beginnings of the Hughes fire was caught on the UC San Diego security cameras but officials are still unsure of the cause.
“I think that fires in LA show us that the wild and setting can be in our biggest cities here in California. It also reminds us of fires like the ones in the Oakland Hills,” says Schmutz when asked about the Bay Area’s readiness to deal with wildfires here. “It shows us the risk of wildfires to come to our cities and It's not just back in the 80’s and 90’s, it's here right now so I think it's a good reminder that it's important to have your firefighters and it's important to prepare for future events like that.”
Amelia Whitcomb, a Literary Arts teacher at OSA, however, thinks that these wildfires are impossible to prevent. “I think it is just unfortunately something that we have to prepare for. It's an inevitability rather than something we are able to do much to prevent in advance.”
A humanitarian team from Mexico, deployed to fight the fires burning in Southern California, arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday afternoon, with Gov. Newsom (ABC News 7).
The support to help LA fight the fires doesn't stop statewide. It has been a global effort to try and put out these fires, including Mexico, which sent 72 firefighters to help. Gov. Gavin Newsom expressed his appreciation to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, as he welcomed the firefighters. "Emergencies have no borders - we are deeply grateful to our neighbors in Mexico for their unwavering support during one of our greatest times of need," Newsom said in a statement. "Thank you to President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo for lending the best of the best."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “offered Canada’s full support to assist California’s firefighting efforts,” according to a Jan. 10 press release from Trudeau’s office. “Fire crews, aircraft, and equipment from Canada, including from British Columbia and Quebec, were some of the first on scene to help battle the fires.” Canada also sent a crew of 40 Type 1 wildland firefighters (a highly trained firefighter who leads a small group of other firefighters in high-risk wildland fire situations) and two support staff from the province of Alberta. “Additional Type 1 firefighters, Incident Command personnel, and qualified support staff will be ready to go if requested. Alberta is also preparing water bombers and contracted night vision helicopters to be ready if needed,” according to a Canadian Public Safety article. Additional support was offered from Ukraine as well.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “offered Canada’s full support to assist California’s firefighting efforts,” according to a Jan. 10 press release from Trudeau’s office. “Fire crews, aircraft, and equipment from Canada, including from British Columbia and Quebec, were some of the first on scene to help battle the fires.” Canada also sent a crew of 40 Type 1 wildland firefighters (a highly trained firefighter who leads a small group of other firefighters in high-risk wildland fire situations) and two support staff from the province of Alberta. “Additional Type 1 firefighters, Incident Command personnel, and qualified support staff will be ready to go if requested. Alberta is also preparing water bombers and contracted night vision helicopters to be ready if needed,” according to a Canadian Public Safety article. Additional support was offered from Ukraine as well.
An Oakland Fire Department fire truck is seen in Los Angeles to support the response to the ongoing wildfires on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Photo from Oakland Fire Department on X, per KQED)
