4 ms·
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 t
by 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 agoWhat is burning? Mostly bushes or mostly homes?
- bragr 2y agoBoth 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 agoIn the Palisades? Nearly everything. Homes, the iconic Pali high school, the shops, the bushes — it's reportedly devastated.
- diggan 2y agoFrom 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 agoSome 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 agoThis 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 agowow.
- ZeroGravitas 2y agoThe 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 agoThe 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 agoThis tidbit does nothing for the people experiencing loss at the moment.
- MomsAVoxell 2y ago[flagged]