Fire alert at highest level as Santa Ana winds pick up

On By Littum

Windy conditions that sparked the Palisades fire will make ‘ignitions much more likely’

Another period of strong downslope offshore Santa Ana winds is picking up this morning, the same phenomenon that caused wildfires that have devastated communities in the greater Los Angeles area.

The National Weather Service said in an update yesterday that winds could gust up to 75 mph today in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, possibly bringing down trees and power lines.

“However, the greater concern will be wind strength when combined with very dry relative humidity and dry fuel. This combination will result in extremely critical fire weather conditions, as predicted by the Storm Prediction Center,” the NWS said.

“Not only will these extreme and dangerous conditions make fighting ongoing fires much more difficult, but these will make new ignitions much more likely. New fires that develop will have the potential to grow and spread rapidly, increasing the danger for the situation.”

Residents say a haven for black families is shattered in Altadena

Reporting from ALTADENA, California

ALTADENA, Calif. – Dennis “Buzz” Chatman said that when he bought his house in Altadena in 2020, the original 1950 title deed indicated that the only non-white people allowed in the neighborhood were servants.

“So being able to plant my flag there meant a lot,” said Chatman, a film and television producer.

Now he’s struggling with losing not only his house, but what he says was a haven for black families to the devastating fires in Los Angeles last week.

Read the whole story here.

Watch: Firefighters work to control new brush fire in Southern California

Video footage provided by the Ventura County Fire Department showed firefighters battling a brush fire in Ventura County, California. According to their posting on social media, they are actively working to stop the forward spread of the fire in strong winds.

How wildfire containment works: What it means to contain the LA fires

Deadly wildfires continue to ravage the Los Angeles area as firefighters battle windy conditions to contain the out-of-control flames.

But what does it mean to “contain” a wildfire?

Containment does not mean that a fire is completely extinguished. Rather, it refers to how much of a perimeter has been established around an active fire, preventing it from growing and consuming more land.

Read the whole story here.