The Palisades fire has burned more than 17,000 acres and 1,000 structures, including many homes, while five people have died in the Eaton fire. At least 130,000 residents are under evacuation orders.

Summary

A series of devastating wildfires across Los Angeles County has left 5 dead and destroyed or damaged over 2,000 structures, with the Eaton and Palisades fires among the most destructive.

Fueled by extreme winds of up to 99 mph and dry conditions, the fires have prompted 130,000 evacuation orders, overwhelmed firefighting resources, and caused injuries to residents and first responders.

President Biden and Governor Newsom pledged federal and state support.

With the fires still largely uncontained, officials warn the crisis remains dire.

      • AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.works
        4·
        20 hours ago

        You’re getting downvoted by people who didn’t watch the video, lol. I saw it when it was posted because the YouTube algorithm knows me way too well, it’s kinda terrifying actually.

        Growing up in the 90s, my father worked for the Florida Division of Forestry, and control burns were just a thing I heard about at the dinner table, sometimes when getting smoked out on the playground I’d ask him if it was a prescribed burn or a wildfire. So was him being asked to help every few years when California was on fire again.

        I was astonished to find out as an adult that prescribed burns weren’t as widespread as they seemed, and this video does a pretty good job of explaining some of why that is. And yes, it’s partly racism - control burns were a part of indigenous forest management and part of the racist maligning of indigenous practices as non-scientific and backwards. In the modern era, there’s also elements of entrenched thinking on the part of forestry services, and money issues (governments, in general, don’t like paying for preventative measures, they prefer paying more after something awful has occurred), and NIMBYs not wanting to be inconvenienced.

        I do think the framing unfairly maligns Smokey Bear as a symbol though, in the past 30-ish years he’s been more about regular citizens being responsible with fire, and responsible forest management.