'Dramatic and apocalyptic': LA fire captain details obstacles allowing wildfires to ravage the city
Los Angeles Fire Department captain Sheila Kelliher details how persistent wind has prevented firefighters from extinguishing the flames surrounding parts of L.A. and allowed the "dramatic fire" to engulf the area.
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Fires started erupting in areas surrounding L.A. on Tuesday night, with more catching ablaze on Wednesday. Presently, the six fires are the Palisades Fire, the Eaton Fire, the Hurst Fire, the Olivas Fire, the Lidia Fire and the Woodley Fire. Officials said early Wednesday evening these fires are 0 percent contained.
"Mother Nature has been the star of the show and has made it really challenging for us to fight this fire," Kelliher told "The Story" on Wednesday, explaining how Tuesday night's winds were more "amplified" than usual.
Calling the scorched hillsides "dramatic and apocalyptic," Kelliher said that she watched winds "whip up to 70, 80, even 100 miles an hour," further fanning the flames.
The fire captain explained how teams have been struggling with a few obstacles, with one being having to rely on residential water systems, which are not robust enough to support a "15-hour firefight."
"Everybody's using the water. They're just not designed for that. They're designed for residential use, not wildland firefighting," she said.
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The lack of water via air support due to the strong winds also made it more difficult to contain the flames. Kelliher said without the overhead planes showering down, teams had to rely on the residential groundwater to extinguish what they could.
"So working with that and really figuring out that balance is where we're at," she said.
In order to be able to get firefighters up into the air, the fire captain said wind gusts under 40 miles per hour are the "tipping point."
"We're just waiting on, again, Mother Nature to cooperate. And they say, you know, the forecast says about 6:00 tonight, it's going to start to maybe subside. So, let's hope that's the case," Kelliher said.
"The Eaton Canyon Fire is up to 10,000 acres, a little over 10,000 acres. So it has the potential to continue to grow if those winds don't lay down. We're not out of the woods with any of these. So, we're really doing what we can," she continued.
More firefighters outside L.A. County are expected to arrive in the meantime to help alleviate the taxing load on the current fighters. Kelliher explained that some reinforcements may begin to arrive as early as Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
"We pre-deploy across the county and make sure we're covered. But then this is where mutual aid comes into effect, which is really important. And there are other agencies that we work side by side with," she said, stressing that there are a lot of "tired firefighters." "When the call goes out, the other agencies step up, and they come support not only from Northern California, Southern California, Orange County, Ventura County, but then also out of the state. So, that call went out through our Chief Marrone as reason one and they have obliged and help is on the way."
For those seeking shelter, Kelliher said the California fire websites contain a lot of resources. "Everybody is pitching in," she said, explaining how a lot of industries are opening up their gyms, places of worship and the Pasadena Convention Center opened up for people in need.
"There's a lot of places that are really working with the community to help people find shelter," she said.