Palisades Fire

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Palisades Fire
LocationPacific Palisades, California,
Los Angeles County,
California
Coordinates34°04′45″N 118°33′32″W / 34.079046°N 118.558938°W / 34.079046; -118.558938Coordinates: 34°04′45″N 118°33′32″W / 34.079046°N 118.558938°W / 34.079046; -118.558938
Statistics[1]
Date(s)May 14, 2021 (2021-05-14) – May 26, 2021 (2021-05-26)
Burned area1,327 acres (537 ha)
CauseArson
Non-fatal injuries1 firefighter
Map
Palisades Fire is located in California
Palisades Fire
Location in Southern California
[Interactive fullscreen map]
Location of Palisades Fire

The Palisades Fire was a wildfire that started in Topanga State Park in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles California on May 14, 2021. The fire burned a total of 1,202 acres (486 ha) and was fully contained on May 26, 2021.[2]

Events[]

The Palisades Fire was first reported in the late-night hours of Friday, May 14, at around 10 pm PST on the 1800 block of North Michael Lane. Throughout the night, the fire sluggishly burned between 10 and 15 acres in thick and unusually dry vegetation which kept the fire active despite the marine layer from the ocean dampening the fires progression as helicopters and fire crews were quickly brought in to suppress the brush fire.[3] The fire, which had been named Palisades due to its proximity to the Pacific Palisades had been burning through unseasonably dry vegetation that had not been burned in a significant fire within the 50 to 60 years. Early on Saturday afternoon, after some encouraging containment had been established, a spotfire was observed expanding far outside the initial burn area of the original, much smaller than the 15 acre fire. This spot fire soon became the main fire as it blew into a large 100 acre conflagration with multiple other blazes that began growing north, west and east into more of the dense overgrown chaparral.[4][5] That evening, the fire has then reportedly expanded to 750 acres with containment dropping to zero percent and mandatory evacuation orders were put in place for 1,000 residents east of Topanga Canyon Boulevard between the Community House and View Ridge Road as well as north of Entrada, south of Oakwood Drive and east of Henry Ridge Motorway.[5]

By Sunday night, the fire was estimated to have burned about 1,325 acres, and by Monday morning, the fire size had been downsized to 1,158 acres due to better mapping of the fire perimeter. Several hillside residential areas in Topanga Canyon were evacuated, and Topanga Canyon Blvd was shut down. Over the course of Monday, containment grew to 23%. At 6:00 PM PDT on May 17, all evacuations were lifted.[6]

Cause[]

The cause of the fire is believed to be arson, and one suspect was detained, but later released.[7] The main suspect was later identified as 48-year-old man Ramon Santos Rodriguez.[8]

Aftermath[]

Failed Citizen app manhunt[]

Early in the initial investigation as to the cause of the fire—while efforts to contain the still active blaze were underway—it was quickly ruled by investigators that the fire had likely been intentionally set. Within hours of this, the privately owned app Citizen, which is a mobile app that sends users location-based safety alerts in real time, sent out notifications to 860,000 Los Angeles users a photograph of a man along with unsubstantiated claims that the man in question was the potential arsonist who caused the Palisades Fire.[9] Citizen also offered a reward of $30,000 to anyone who could provide information leading to an arrest.[9] Soon after, the misinformed campaign to find the purported suspect was spread online and many tips were brought forth to LAPD investigators. The man was identified as Devin Hilton and was obtained for questioning by investigators, but he was soon ruled out as the suspected arsonist due to a substantial lack of evidence connecting him to the fire.[10]

Prominent comedian and media figure Kathy Griffin condemned the motion from citizen app, tweeting "OK, I’ve turned against the Citizen app. The hosts are offering a $30K reward for completely unsubstantiated evidence regarding a homeless guy who they think started the (fire). Now people are trying to hunt him down. No proof it was even arson much less this guy. Gross."[11][12] The company later admitted to the mistake stating, "We publicly posted the photo and offered a cash reward for information without formal coordination with the appropriate agencies. Once we realized this error, we immediately retracted the photo and reward offer. We are actively working to improve our internal processes to ensure this does not occur again. This was a mistake we are taking very seriously."[10]

Containment[]

As of May 26, 2021, the fire was 100 percent contained.[13]

See also[]

  • 2021 California wildfires
  • List of California wildfires

References[]

  1. ^ "Palisades Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  2. ^ "Palisades Fire | Los Angeles Fire Department". www.lafd.org. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  3. ^ Staff, CBSLA. "Firefighters Battle Pacific Palisades Brush Fire". CBS2 News.
  4. ^ Service, City News. "Brush fire in Pacific Palisades grows; search underway for person responsible". ABC 10 San Diego.
  5. ^ a b "Palisades fire grows to 1,325 acres; More than 1,000 people under mandatory evacuation". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved 2021-05-16.
  6. ^ "Evacuations in Topanga lifted as Palisades fire reaches 23% containment". Los Angeles Times. 2021-05-18. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  7. ^ Ortiz, Jorge L. "Wildfire near Los Angeles grows to 1,325 acres; arson suspect detained, authorities say". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  8. ^ KABC (2021-05-18). "Suspected arsonist identified in 1,325-acre Palisades Fire; residents return amid 23% containment". ABC7 Los Angeles. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  9. ^ a b Chamings, Andrew. "'We made a mistake': Citizen app offers $30K reward for wrong man in Palisades wildfire". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  10. ^ a b Pinho, Faith; Winton, Richard. "Citizen app posts image of wrong man as arson suspect in Palisades fire". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  11. ^ Keys, Matthew [@kathygriffin] (May 16, 2021). "HOK, I've turned against the Citizen app" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ^ Pinho, Faith; Winton, Richard. "Arson suspect arrested in Pacific Palisades fire". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  13. ^ "Pacific Palisades Fire 100 Percent Contained". canyon-news.com. Mary. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
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