Palisades Fire Investigation Still Underway: Test Fire to be Set

Hundreds of residents who are living or have recently moved back to Palisades Highlands and Pacific Palisades should be aware that a controlled “test” fire will be set in parts of Temescal Ridge Trail between Skull Rock and Green Peak on Tuesday, April 29, in the evening.

The fire will be set by U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to parts of the burn scar area. If residents who are living in the Palisades see flames in the area of the origin of the Palisades Fire, it is a test fire and not a new one.

Los Angeles Fire Department Stations 23 and 69 have been alerted. Station 69 Captain Jeff Brown said, “We’re aware of it, and dispatch knows as well.” Station 23 Captain Garcia said they had been alerted and that “ATF and the arson unit are coordinating a small prescribed burn, and there will be an engine onsite.”

If residents call 911 about the test fire, those operators should be aware, too.

ATF is still investigating the origins of the fire, which many in Pacific Palisades believe is tied to New Year’s Eve illegal fireworks activity, which was responded to by LAFD and deemed successfully put out.

Residents have seen smoke plumes from other brush fires come up for days after a fire is out and are not convinced that this fire was successfully put out. According to a L.A. Times April 28 story click here. “Sources familiar with the investigation say much of the focus has been on whether an eight-acre blaze sparked by fireworks a week earlier that firefighters thought they had extinguished in the same area had reignited.”

The weekend after the fire, ATF was on that site in the Highlands and went over it painstakingly. They have examined 250 leads, obtained 90 hours of relevant video and conducted 50 interviews.

The Palisades Fire started around 10:30 a.m. on January 7, killed 12, burned 23,448 acres, destroyed 6,837 structures and displaced nearly 28,000 residents.

ATF will conduct tests through Thursday and hope to determine the exact spot of origin, and how the fire ignited.

Although, some residents feel that the wooden poles in the Highlands that were never replaced with fire-resistant steel poles https://www.circlingthenews.com/coastal-commissi…-above-highlands/ ‎could have contributed to the fire, those poles were not near the origin, according to ATF investigators.

The Mayor’s office and LAFD have not released public records about the response or lack of regarding this fire, citing the ongoing ATF investigation. The Times reported in January that Crowley and her staff chose not to order 1,000 firefighters to remain on duty for a second shift the morning of the blaze, which would have doubled the number of personnel on hand. Crowley and her fire commanders said they didn’t hold over the shift because they didn’t have enough engines for that many firefighters.

And of course, the Santa Ynez Reservoir is empty. When DWP Officials tried to fill it, they discovered additional holes in the cover and it was drained again.  click here.

Once a fire cause is determined, it will go a long way to healing the residents affected and helping to plan for the future, so a fire of this magnitude never affects another community.