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I was in Pacific Palisades when the fire started yesterday. I've never seen one spread so fast. It went from there being smoke way in the distance and people go

I was in Pacific Palisades when the fire started yesterday. I've never seen one spread so fast. It went from there being smoke way in the distance and people going about their lives normally, then 90 minutes later the fire was everywhere and people were panicking and evacuating en masse.

tylerflick 2y ago
It’s definitely the worst fire I’ve ever seen here. Very surreal to watch houses burning while walking my dogs this morning. The only silver lining are the winds blowing the smoke out to sea rather than blanketing Santa Monica.
bragr 2y ago
I have a good view of the smoke column from Brentwood. I've also never seen a fire spread that fast. Same thing, in about an hour it went from a small fire to the smoke blocking out the sun. As a testament to the speed of the winds, I've never seen a smoke column visually move so quickly. Usually at that size and distance, they feel more like static objects. Edit: I'm preparing to evacuate tonight in case the order comes through. Checking the most recent maps, the fire has burned through almost all of the Palisades and is getting into Brentwood. The fire may also reach Santa Monica at this rate. I'm stacking go bags by the door.
- earnestinger 2y ago
  What is burning? Mostly bushes or mostly homes?
  - bragr 2y ago
    Both unfortunately. Many neighborhoods seem fully engulfed based on the maps: https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents.html# https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents.html#
  - gdubs 2y ago
    In the Palisades? Nearly everything. Homes, the iconic Pali high school, the shops, the bushes — it's reportedly devastated.
  - diggan 2y ago
    From the initial National Weather Service alert: > IMPACTS...If fire ignition occurs, conditions are favorable for very rapid fire spread and extreme fire behavior, including long range spotting, which would threaten life and property. There will be a high risk for widespread downed trees and powerlines, as well as widespread power outages. A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will shortly. Use extreme caution with anything that can spark a wildfire. So seems the combination of the wind + fire makes for easy and fast fire propagation. The alert/warning in full is a pretty interesting read: https://alerts-v2.weather.gov/search?id=urn%3Aoid%3A2.49.0.1.840.0.3de04a4244a2c6f949edf5cb2902d59f6697b5b1.001.2 https://alerts-v2.weather.gov/search?id=urn%3Aoid%3A2.49.0.1...
  - mturmon 2y ago
    Some harrowing before and after photos from a Maxar instrument via LA Times (may be pay walled): https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-08/shocking-before-and-after-satellite-images-show-destruction-of-malibu-and-altadena-neighborhoods https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-08/shocking... This shows Altadena, just east of JPL, and Malibu (separate fires, of course).
    - martinpw 2y ago
      This is a horrific satellite picture of Altadena: https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/06-closer-swir-view-of-burning-buildings-altadena-california-08jan2025-wv3.jpg?c=original&q=w_1280,c_fill https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/06-closer-s...
      - lkjdsklf 2y ago
        wow.
      - ZeroGravitas 2y ago
        The blue and green colour small areas suggest this is a false color image that maps colours to a value and coincidentally looks like a fire. Presumably it's measuring heat or something vaguely relevant but I don't trust my immediate visceral reaction to it.
        deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
        mturmon 2y ago
        The image filename contains SWIR which is a clue. Several instruments can sense emissions in short-wave IR which light up for fires (and hot smoke plumes, and some industrial plants). E.g., VIIRS which is a successor to MODIS (https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/data/instruments/viirs/viirs-i-band-375-m-active-fire-data https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/data/instruments/viirs/viirs-...). The resolution in the posted image is much better than satellite, however. This implies that it's an airborne platform like FIRIS (https://wifire.ucsd.edu/firis-in-depth https://wifire.ucsd.edu/firis-in-depth). It also uses IR.
- MomsAVoxell 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - ctrlp 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - MomsAVoxell 2y ago
      [flagged]
  - John23832 2y ago
    This tidbit does nothing for the people experiencing loss at the moment.
    - MomsAVoxell 2y ago
      [flagged]
ed 2y ago
Folks say the same thing about the 1991 Oakland firestorm. If there's a fire in your area, pay attention and don't assume it'll be contained, the situation can change very quickly.
aaron695 2y ago
[dead]
darth_avocado 2y ago
I was in a wildfire once. I was in a grocery store and I didn’t see anything burning. 2 minutes into the store, another person came in saying they saw smoke a few blocks away. I immediately left the store and went back to the car. Before I could leave the parking lot, everything around me was on fire, there was smoke so dense I couldn’t see anything beyond 10 feet and I genuinely thought I was going to die, if not in the fire, then in an accident. Wildfires move very fast and every second is precious.
- culi 2y ago
  Especially in this wind. Some of the strongest Santa Ana winds in a century
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]

tylerflick 2y ago

It’s definitely the worst fire I’ve ever seen here. Very surreal to watch houses burning while walking my dogs this morning. The only silver lining are the winds blowing the smoke out to sea rather than blanketing Santa Monica.

bragr 2y ago

I have a good view of the smoke column from Brentwood. I've also never seen a fire spread that fast. Same thing, in about an hour it went from a small fire to the smoke blocking out the sun. As a testament to the speed of the winds, I've never seen a smoke column visually move so quickly. Usually at that size and distance, they feel more like static objects. Edit: I'm preparing to evacuate tonight in case the order comes through. Checking the most recent maps, the fire has burned through almost all of the Palisades and is getting into Brentwood. The fire may also reach Santa Monica at this rate. I'm stacking go bags by the door.

earnestinger 2y ago
What is burning? Mostly bushes or mostly homes?
- bragr 2y ago
  Both unfortunately. Many neighborhoods seem fully engulfed based on the maps: https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents.html# https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents.html#
- gdubs 2y ago
  In the Palisades? Nearly everything. Homes, the iconic Pali high school, the shops, the bushes — it's reportedly devastated.
- diggan 2y ago
  From the initial National Weather Service alert: > IMPACTS...If fire ignition occurs, conditions are favorable for very rapid fire spread and extreme fire behavior, including long range spotting, which would threaten life and property. There will be a high risk for widespread downed trees and powerlines, as well as widespread power outages. A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will shortly. Use extreme caution with anything that can spark a wildfire. So seems the combination of the wind + fire makes for easy and fast fire propagation. The alert/warning in full is a pretty interesting read: https://alerts-v2.weather.gov/search?id=urn%3Aoid%3A2.49.0.1.840.0.3de04a4244a2c6f949edf5cb2902d59f6697b5b1.001.2 https://alerts-v2.weather.gov/search?id=urn%3Aoid%3A2.49.0.1...
- mturmon 2y ago
  Some harrowing before and after photos from a Maxar instrument via LA Times (may be pay walled): https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-08/shocking-before-and-after-satellite-images-show-destruction-of-malibu-and-altadena-neighborhoods https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-08/shocking... This shows Altadena, just east of JPL, and Malibu (separate fires, of course).
  - martinpw 2y ago
    This is a horrific satellite picture of Altadena: https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/06-closer-swir-view-of-burning-buildings-altadena-california-08jan2025-wv3.jpg?c=original&q=w_1280,c_fill https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/06-closer-s...
    - lkjdsklf 2y ago
      wow.
    - ZeroGravitas 2y ago
      The blue and green colour small areas suggest this is a false color image that maps colours to a value and coincidentally looks like a fire. Presumably it's measuring heat or something vaguely relevant but I don't trust my immediate visceral reaction to it.
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
      - mturmon 2y ago
        The image filename contains SWIR which is a clue. Several instruments can sense emissions in short-wave IR which light up for fires (and hot smoke plumes, and some industrial plants). E.g., VIIRS which is a successor to MODIS (https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/data/instruments/viirs/viirs-i-band-375-m-active-fire-data https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/data/instruments/viirs/viirs-...). The resolution in the posted image is much better than satellite, however. This implies that it's an airborne platform like FIRIS (https://wifire.ucsd.edu/firis-in-depth https://wifire.ucsd.edu/firis-in-depth). It also uses IR.
MomsAVoxell 2y ago
[flagged]
- ctrlp 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - MomsAVoxell 2y ago
    [flagged]
- John23832 2y ago
  This tidbit does nothing for the people experiencing loss at the moment.
  - MomsAVoxell 2y ago
    [flagged]

ed 2y ago

Folks say the same thing about the 1991 Oakland firestorm. If there's a fire in your area, pay attention and don't assume it'll be contained, the situation can change very quickly.

aaron695 2y ago

[dead]

darth_avocado 2y ago

I was in a wildfire once. I was in a grocery store and I didn’t see anything burning. 2 minutes into the store, another person came in saying they saw smoke a few blocks away. I immediately left the store and went back to the car. Before I could leave the parking lot, everything around me was on fire, there was smoke so dense I couldn’t see anything beyond 10 feet and I genuinely thought I was going to die, if not in the fire, then in an accident. Wildfires move very fast and every second is precious.

culi 2y ago
Especially in this wind. Some of the strongest Santa Ana winds in a century
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]