With powerful winds sweeping through Southern California again, top Los Angeles officials said they were prepared to handle yet another period of extreme fire danger in the city.
Chief Kristin Crowley of the Los Angeles Fire Department acknowledged at a news conference on Monday that vegetation in the region, parched from months of drought and dried out even more by the wind, could be powerful fuel for extreme fire behavior.
But she said that federal, state and local crews and equipment were in place to respond if new fires break out. “Additional resources are in the region” now, she said, compared with on Jan. 7, when the Palisades and Eaton fires erupted.
On that day, Chief Crowley said, the department had about 14 engines stationed ahead of time to respond to the “particularly dangerous situation” that the National Weather Service had warned about. On Monday, in preparation for similar conditions, the department had 30 engines, as well as a larger number of extra crews, stationed in areas like the vicinity of the Palisades fire, which was still only about 59 percent contained.
Tactical “task forces” of three engines were ready at four fire stations around the city, along with “strike teams” at other locations, she said.
“Everyone needs to be on high alert,” Mayor Karen Bass said at the news conference. “We ask Angelenos to be prepared, in case they need to evacuate.”
Wind gusts of 50 to 70 miles an hour were expected in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties starting Monday afternoon and extending into Tuesday, with falling humidity levels.
“If it is ignited, extreme fire weather and behavior is probable,” Chief Crowley said.
The Los Angeles Fire Department has faced criticism that it did not deploy sufficient resources two weeks ago to prepare for the unusually dangerous conditions the National Weather Service had forecast.
On Jan. 7, the department called up about 100 firefighters for overtime and positioned nine trucks in high-risk areas, but none of those trucks were sent to Pacific Palisades, where a fire quickly grew out of control and devoured thousands of structures.
Last week, Chief Crowley defended the department’s decisions, saying it had followed the “system in place.”
“Of course, there’s always lessons learned,” she said.
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