The Living Hell of Urban Wildfires

"We're looking for a little respite on Friday and Saturday from the Santa Ana winds but then they're going to pick up again Sunday through most of next week."

Meteorologist Rich Thompson

"[Right now, it's impossible to quantify the extent of the destruction other than] total devastation and loss."

"There are areas where everything is gone, there isn't even a stick of wood left, it's just dirt."

Barbara Bruderlin, head, Malibu Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce

"I've lived out here since the mid-80s and I don't think I've experienced anything as strong and forceful as these winds. I'm looking at a number of houses that have been destroyed of people I know."

"Not everybody who lives in California is a multimillionaire. There are a lot of [regular] folks here. If you're a person who doesn't have good finances, this is going to be devastating."

"I think this is a game changer for Los Angeles. People are going to have to re-evaluate where they live and I'll be surprised if they're going to rebuild in the areas quickly."

Hollywood Actor John Kapelos 

A still from a video that Kapelos took from his condo's rooftop on Tuesday near La Brea and Franklin Avenues, looking west from Hollywood toward the Pacific Ocean. (Submitted by John Kapelos)

"It's been scary. Looking around, you can see the smoke in the air and you're smelling it. Obviously the air quality is terrible right now."

"All these areas that are on fire, the majority of them are in the hills, so those are really narrow and winding roads, and a lot of people park on those streets and are trying to get out, so getting a firetruck up there would be an absolute nightmare. That really slows things down."

"I've had a few people I know who've lost their homes. Right now, they're just in shock because there's places they've been in for decades and all of a sudden everything is gone. Basically they just have what they could fit in their cars and nobody knows the next steps."

David Cooke, realtor, Toluca Lake neighbourhood

A man walks in front of the burning Altadena Community Church on Wednesday in in Pasadena, Calif., as wildfires continued to create devastation in the L.A. area. (Chris Pizzello/The Associated Press)

 To the present, 16 people have died in the blazes in the Los Angeles area. Entire neighbourhoods have been obliterated in America's second-largest city. Firefighters had  hoped for a break frmo fierce winds that fuelled the area's massive blazes. Over 10,000 homes have been burned, along with other structures since Tuesday. Fires first began appearing around the 40-kilometre expanse north of downtown Los Angeles, a densely populated area. 

 

Firefighters monitor the advance of the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon on January 11.

Eric Thayer/AP

 

California is accustomed to massive wildfires. Even so the shock at the fierceness and swift spread of these fires are like none before them, with dozens of blocks of Pacific Palisades flattened, and smouldering -- rubble only remains. The 13 million inhabitants of Metropolitan Los Angeles awoke Friday to another day of high winds stoking the fires with the threat of new flare-ups. Earlier in the week hurricane-force winds ignited the nearby hillsides with embers.

The forecast by meteorologist Rich Thompson was for Santa Ana winds to pick up once more on Sunday and throughout the following week. Thursday afternoon, the San Fernando Valley Kenneth Fire saw new blazes where evacuees from another fire were taking shelter in a school. An aggressive response by firefighters managed to quell the flames in neighbouring Ventura County. Calmer winds and out-of-state crews helped firefighters beat back two devastating wildfires. 

Over 5,000 structures were burned in the Altadena area by the Eaton Fire. Finally, firefighters have seen progress in containing the Eaton blaze. The fire in Pacific Palisades, the largest in the Los Angeles area, destroyed over 5,300 structures, with firefighters establishing the first containment on Thursday. Even so, that blaze is considered the be the most destructive in the history of blazes in Los Angeles.

With the assistance of aircraft water drops, crews were able to knock down a blaze in the Hollywood Hills. The famed Hollywood Bowl outdoor concert venue was close to immolation near the heart of the entertainment industry. No figures have  yet been released on the cost of the damage to date, but AccuWeather on Thursday increased its preliminary estimate of the damage and economic fallout to a range of $135 billion to $150 billion.

 

A fire fighting helicopter drops water on the Palisades fire on January 11.

Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

 

B.C. Wildfires -- Up Close and Personal

The McDougall Creek wildfire burns in the hills in West Kelowna on Aug. 17, 2023, as seen from Kelowna. Photo by DARREN HULL /AFP via Getty Images

"Then the flames started, and they started everywhere all at the same time because it was an ember shower."

"We're a pretty small fire department, we have three apparatus, so we tried to do our best but there was just absolutely no way that we could attack all of it. And as soon as  you don't attack it, it spreads."

"We fought for as many houses as we could. We stopped the flame front and saved probably, I'd say, 65 to 75 percent of the houses in Traders Cove."

"I saw my house burn. When we were fighting the fires in Traders Cove, we literally had fire personnel with their backs to their house that was burning behind them, and they were fighting the neighbour's, trying to save the neighbourhood." 

"It was extremely, extremely fast. The wind was blowing directly, I mean literally, at my house. It was a wall of fire 100, 125 feet high, travelling 35 kilometres an hour."

"It was surreal. It was watching nature at its worst. ... It just kind of ate my house."

Paul Zydowicz, chief, volunteer fire department, Wilson's Landing, British Columbia

"I quickly found myself in a pretty tricky battle. I was able to call in our own firefighters to come and help me. And that's when it became real for me that we were surrounded by fire and it was bearing down on our community hard. And we were all in the fight of our careers."

"I was thinking: If we just had one more fire engine we could save that house. And if we had one more fire engine, then we can save those other two houses. And if we had one more, we could get the other ones on the other side of the street. And, you know, of course you can never have enough resources in that situation."

"It's  unprecedented. We are not used to fighting wildfire fire against six-storey condominium buildings."

Jason Brolund, West Kelowna, McDougall Creek wildfire

 

"It moved 20 km south in under 12 hours, which is extremely [aggressive] for fire behaviour in British Columbia."

"That is a force of nature similar to a tornado, similar to an earthquake or a tsunami."

Forest Tower, B.C. Wildfire Service Information officer 

"[The fire that blew into this region] was something I've never seen before."

"When I saw the flames coming that day, it was something bigger than any of us could handle."

"but the community rallied together, they saved what they could save. It was actually just among the most impressive displays of community spirit I've ever seen."

"I want to stress the fact that we've lost structures, people are hurting, but we haven't lost lives -- not yet."

District deputy regional fire chief Sean Coubrough

"This MacDougall fire has been a very harrowing experience for everyone. I'm grateful that there has been no confirmed loss of life that we know of, and we hope that this remains."

"It's very devastating for the loss of property and the impact of businesses that has occurred. There's lots of collective grief and high emotions."

Chief Robert Louie, Westbank First Nation

Photo from the frontlines as Wilson's Landing firefighters battled the McDougall Creek blaze north of Kelowna. Photo by Wilson's Landing Fire Department

As gusting winds whipped up the McDougall Creek wildfire, airplanes dumped fire retardant in the area. Fire chief Zydowlicz had firefighters staked out on the west side of Okanagan Lake, additional crews on a local forest road. As evening fell flames could be seen thrusting toward Wilson's Landing. The two dozen on-call firefighters with three trucks stared down the fast-moving blaze, leaping and growing voraciously.

That was August 17, the start of the worst week of the worst year for wildfires in the history of British Columbia, which led to hundreds of properties damaged, thousands of evacuations across the province, and hundreds of firefighters arriving from near and abroad to pitch in and work as an emergency team to address the crisis. A day later the McDougall Creek wildfire blew into West Kelowna, roughly 13 km south.

Jason Brolund, the city's fire chief spent the day organizing how best to attack the blaze, overseeing the command post in the city. On his way home August 18 for a few hours of sleep he stopped in West Kelowna Estates to check on his firefighters and an "overwhelming" scene assailed him. A colleague pointed him to a subdivision street not yet visited by the firefighters. He knocked on doors to check that residents had evacuated, and as the night sky glowed orange fluorescence, firefighters used water from swimming pools "right before it hits the person's lawn, like inches from the house".

The inferno melted street signs, uprooted large trees, and ripped propane tanks open, blowing them into the woods. At Wilson's Landing firefighters attacked the blaze roaring north along Westside Road, work that stretched into the next morning, staying one step ahead of the flames to protect small communities, but finally forced to retreat 10 km when they reached the Lake Okanagan Resort.

 

Lake Okanagan Resort on fire  Photo: Tedd Buddwell

 

"The fire chased us out of Lake Okanagan resort" explained Chief Zydowicz. Boaters posted photographs of the 217-room historic resort engulfed fully in flames. The tradespeople, doctors, lawyers and entrepreneurs who formed the troop of volunteer firefighters experienced a harrowing 22 hours. Two were injured; one with facial burns, the other a broken wrist. "These two firefighters, after being treated at the hospital, called me from the hospital and said put me in a next shift please, and preferably earlier", said Chief Zydowicz.

Along with losing his own  house, the fire had destroyed $150,000 in boats and other gear for his riverboat company, Northwest River Boats. Other Wilson's Landing firefighters lost everything and continued to fight the wildfire. The fire in the North Westside rural area destroyed or damaged about 90 properties in both Traders Cove and Wilson's Landing, as well as a children's summer camp. Most homeowners had heeded evacuation orders, even though a handful were rescued after waiting too long to leave.

In the city of West Kelowna and the Westbank First Nation another 84 properties were damaged or destroyed, along with four in Kelowna and three in Lake country. West Kelowna firefighters that afternoon fought a ground fire that was threatening a gas storage facility, a mobile home park and a number of new condominium developments. That day in mid-August was hot, dry and windy across most of the province. Other areas of the province saw mounting fire crises with several communities in the Columbia Shuswap Regional District given evacuation orders as the area faced "its most devastating wildfire day in history".

A base camp for 400 firefighters west of Adams Lake was forced to evacuate when the fire risk was acute and cold air whipped up the nearby Bush Creek East fire. Under 12 km from the camp the Lower East Adams Lake fire was increasing in intensity close to the Interfor Adams Lake Mill, a major area employer. It was saved, while flames tore south attacking other communities on the north side of Shuswap Lake. Losses of 100 homes were reported by residents in Scotch Creek and Celista.

By August 20 the situation began to change when Chief Broland said "We're now four days in. It feels like months. But things are looking better. We are finally feeling like we're moving forward rather than we're moving backwards, and that's a great feeling for all of us to have. In saying that, make no mistake, there will be difficult days ahead, and we are continuing to prepare and address those."

A recent photo of some of the Wilson’s Landing firefighters. Thirteen people in the 24-member department lost their homes in the blaze. Photo: GoFundMe jpg

Greece Afire!

"Given that there have been no reports of a missing person or missing residents from the surrounding areas, the possibility is being investigated that these are people who had entered the country illegally."

Ioannis Artopios, spokesman, fire department, Avanta area

 

"When we add the fires in Canada, the United States, Africa, Asia and Australia to those in Europe, it seems that the situation is getting worse every year."

Antonello Fiore, president,  Italian Society of Environmental Geology

Helicopters fly over as wildfire rages near Alexandroupolis, northern Greece, on August 21, 2023. Sakis Mitrolidis/AFP/Getty Images

 The bodies of 18 people were discovered by firefighters scouring the area of a major wildfire in northeastern Greece, burning out of control Tuesday for a fourth day. Authorities were left to consider whether the group remains might be those of migrants who had entered Greece through its nearby border with Turkey.

Hundreds of firefighters were battling dozens of wildfires breaking out across the country, with galeforce winds fanning the flames. Two people died on Monday while two firefighters were injured in separate fires in northern and central Greece. The 18 bodies were found in the Avanta area of the city of Alexandroupolis.

The hot, dry summers of southern Europe are especially susceptible to wildfires. Across Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands, another major blaze has been burning for a week, with no injuries or home damage yet reported. Blame is being placed by European Union officials squarely on climate change to explain the increasing frequency and intensity of European wildfires.

Police activated Greece's Disaster Victim Identification Team in hopes of identifying the 18 bodies discovered close to a shack in the Avanta area. Alexandroupolis sits close to Greece's border with Turkey, along a route frequently used by people fleeing poverty and conflict in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, seeking to enter the European Union.

Many villages and settlements close by Avanta were under evacuation orders, push alerts sent to mobile phones. A massive wall of flames raced overnight through forests toward Alexandroupolis that prompted authorities to evacuation an additional eight villages along with the city's hospital. The sky over the city was flaming red and choking smoke with swirling ash flecks filled the atmosphere.

Firefighters battle flames during a wildfire near Prodromos on August 21, 2023. Spyros Bakalis/AFP/Getty Images

The city's hospital transported 65 of its over 100 patients to a ferry boat docked at the city's port; mores were taken to other hospitals in northern Greece. Another 20 patients were ferried to the port town of Kavala, to be transferred from there to yet another hospital. Speaking on Greece's Skal television the country's deputy health minister explained that the Alexandroupolis hospital moved its patients elsewhere given the smoke and ash circulating, as a threat to health toward already compromised people.

 

Patrol boats and private vessels evacuated another 40 people by sea from areas west of Alexandroupolis, ferrying them to the port. Satellite imagery showed smoke from a fire burning through forest in a protected national park, blanketing northern and western Greece. Woodland northwest of Athens and at an industrial area on the capital's western fringes were susceptible to new fires that broke through in parts of the country.

From the industrial area of Aspropyrgos, small explosions resounded as flames reached warehouses and factories, authorities shutting down a highway and ordering the evacuation of nearby villages. Greece, with its firefighting forces stretched to the limit, appealed for help from the civil protection mechanism of the European Union.

The response was five firefighting planes from Croatia, Germany and Sweden, and a helicopter, 58 firefighters and nine water tanks from the Czech Republic heading to Greece on Tuesday. Two aircraft from Cyprus arrived on Monday as did 56 Romanian firefighters. A blaze on the island of Evia was being tackled with the assistance of French firefighters. "We are mobilizing actually almost one third of the aircraft we have in the rescEU fleet", EU spokesman Balazs Ujvari recounted.

Flames burn a forest during a wildfire on Parnitha mountain near Hasia suburb, northwestern Athens, 22 August 2023.   AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis

Deadly Marine Fire At Newark Port

 "Access is tough. The heat is extreme. It's a steel box. So it's a very complex situation."

"You can do all the training int he world and you're going to find something you've nevr seen before."

Gordon Lorenson, Donjon Marine, salvage

Associated Press

 

For three days a cargo ship docked at the biggest port on the U.S. East Coast smouldered and was expected to continue burning for several more days while firefighters desperately tried to control the blaze. Two New Jersey firefighters died trying to battle the blaze, leading to authorities contemplating just how well first responders are being trained. The Italian-flagged vessel carrying cars and other goods was at port in Newark,and what caused the fire will not be known until an investigation takes place once the fire has been extinguished. 

Jets of water were blasted onto the ship to contain the intense heat by a crew of twenty firefighters, salvage workers and a New York fire boat. The fire burned on t he 10th through the 12th levels at the rear of the ship, with flames occasionally flaring up from the top level. This is a huge vessel, the situation couldn't be more dangerous unless there were also explosives on board.

Fire crews were tasked with pouring enough water on the vessel to douse the flames; too much water, on the other hand, could cause the ship to tilt, so the next step is to pump the water off the ship. It did list slightly to its right, but then was stabilized, according to the president of Gallagher Marine Systems, representing the ship's owner, the Grimaldi Group.

Marine Insight

There was a grim silence with authorities declinin to respond to questions whether firefighters should have entered harm's way to put the blaze out given that no lives appeared at risk on te ship from among its 28 crew members. The city has an agreement with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey covering response to fires. They share conversations "today and going forward in terms of training".

Lorenson of Donjon Marine explained that shipboard fires are distinctly unique from one event to the next and even with something of this nature in progress, things can change. According to Newark Fire Chief Rufus Jackon, the department had trained on passenger-carrying ships oreviously, however not the specific type of cargo vessl now being confronted.

Marine traffic trackers indicate the ship, built in 2011, had arrived from the Port of Baltimore several days earlier, carrying ovr 1,200 new and used cars, vans and trucks. The fire occurred on Wenesday at 9:30 p.m.; a maday call went out an hour later when two firefighters became tripped inside the vessel. Firefighter Augusto Acabou was rescued before midnight, and died in hospital the next morning. Wayne Brooks Jr. died early Thursday moring, following having been recovered from the ship.

Left: Wayne Brooks, Jr. and right: Augusto Acabou

 

Another five firefighters were injured, with "steam burns from water accumulated on the cargo ship's floor", the other four suffering heat exhaustion, smoke inhalation and respiratory distress. All three Newark fire captains were released from the hospital. The burn victim was in stable condition, completing his recovery at home.

"[Marine firefighting specialists made considerable progress after] actively conducting fire suppression both pier-side and on the water."

"As of Saturday afternoon, the fire is contained on the 11th deck and is being suppressed and no longer spreading to other areas of the vessel."

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