About 8,500 firefighters from the western United States, Canada and Mexico are battling the blaze, while twice that number of law enforcement and emergency management officials are helping to control the fire’s growth for three days.
A fleet of planes dropped water and fire retardant onto the rugged hills, while ground crews equipped with hand tools and hoses worked around the clock since the fires broke out on Jan. 7, with planes sometimes grounded by high winds.
Hundreds of visiting firefighters and emergency workers are staying outside the Rose Bowl football stadium, which has been temporarily converted into base camp where teammates have built camaraderie between shifts. Teams work for 24 hours straight and then rest for 24 hours before going out again.
“You’re all on the same mission,” said Martin Macias of the St. Helena Fire Department in Northern California. “We all got into this as a service, to make someone’s day better in the worst of times.”
As the fires rage, critics question whether the city was adequately prepared for fire danger in the face of National Weather Service warnings about dangerous weather, even though firefighters were on alert and were able to deploy assets in advance.
Fire Chief Christine Crowley and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass fielded inquiries Wednesday about A.J Los Angeles Times Fire officials chose not to order 1,000 firefighters to remain on duty for a second shift last Tuesday as fires began to get out of control, a report said.
the times He cited critics who said the outgoing shift should have remained on duty and that as many as 25 additional fire engines should have been moved to the foothills, including the Pacific Palisades area.
Crowley defended her department’s preparations, saying it was impossible to know exactly where fires might break out, and that some firefighters needed to stay put to take normal emergency calls anywhere in the city.
“We did everything we could to advance where we could,” Crowley said.
the times Vice President Richard Fields, who was in charge of staffing and equipment decisions before the fire, was quoted as saying that scrutiny is welcome but that it is too easy for critics to second guess decisions after the fact.
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“It’s very easy for a Monday morning quarterback to sit on the couch and tell us what we should have done now that it’s happened,” Fields said. “What we did was based on many years of experience and also trying to be responsible for the rest of the city at any point.” today”. times.
The disaster cast a pall over Hollywood’s annual awards season, usually a time of celebration leading up to the Oscars in March. Many red carpet events have been postponed, canceled or scaled back.
“It’s a difficult time right now for our industry,” said actor Adrien Brody, who won a Golden Globe for his role in the film. BrutalHe said this during the film’s premiere in London on Tuesday. “I’m a little sad because of the many friends and colleagues who are suffering a terrible loss in Los Angeles right now.”
