California fire burns 20k acres in Pacific Palisades while Oregon strike teams get delayed in Sacramento
Here's my interview with someone on the inside
Yesterday, I spoke directly to “Joseph,” a man who works closely with fire fighters who were recently sent out by the Oregon State Fire Marshall’s Office (OSFM) to fight the fires in Southern California, specifically the Palisades fire, which is in and around the communities of Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and Santa Monica, which are in the northwest section of Los Angeles.
There had been some social media talk that Oregon firefighters had been delayed by California bureaucracy while the fires raged. California, and specifically Los Angeles, is renowned and maligned for their mountains of red tape which seem to put up substantial blockade against achieving anything productive in the state, from building structures to running a business, an environment Portlanders also know all too well.
Several social media accounts claimed the delays involved emissions tests that needed to be passed. Some claimed Oregon trucks were turned back at the border. Another claimed that the Oregon’s trucks’ tires had not passed California regulations. The claim that was garnering the most traction was that the trucks had been ordered to Sacramento for various inspections. I decided to investigate these claims myself, so I contacted Joseph to discuss the issues he had witnessed first-hand. Joseph is not this individual’s real name, and he doesn’t want to be identified due to concerns about potential retribution.
PDX Real (P): Hey Joseph, can you give me the lowdown on what exactly is going on with Oregon fire in California.
Joseph (J): Yes, I’m happy to. I’m not sure if you’re caught up to the current point where they are off (work) today.
P: From what I understand, there was a delay in Sacramento for inspections, and then once you guys got down there, they didn’t have work for you to do and told you to go sleep on the beach (in Santa Monica).
J: Yep, basically. They got down there yesterday evening after all the delays and everything and were told to go make camp and sleep on the beach in Santa Monica. They woke up this morning and went to get assignments and were told that today was going to be their day off. Cal Fire (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) work on a 24-hour on and 24-hour off schedule, so (they were told they) should report back tomorrow (Saturday, January 11th) morning for assignment.
P: Wow. Why would they have to sleep on the beach? Is everything destroyed in the vicinity?
J: On wildfires (or conflagration fires) they have a designated camp set up with sleeping, bathing, bathrooms, food/vendors. I don’t think they’ve (Cal Fire) had a chance to designate camp. Let’s be honest, it’s really about terrible disorganization. So (instead of fighting the fire) they had teams make camp on the beach.
P: What was the deal with the inspection in Sacramento? Is that standard operating procedure?
J: CalFire has a vehicle inspection they do to all of their fleet, and require every apparatus coming to the fire to pass the same inspection. Unfortunately, it’s very time consuming and can be nit-picky after these apparatuses have traveled hundreds of miles to come help. The idea is for safety for working crews, but if anything does not meet the requirements, then it has to wait to be fixed, which is not only extremely expensive in that environment, but can also delay the entire strike team a half day or more. If one doesn’t pass, they all have to wait.
P: So, even if they were inspected in Oregon prior to leaving – which I’m sure they did – CalFire still requires an inspection? Also, I heard 60 trucks from Oregon are down there?
J: Yep. They love to have things their way in California. I’d bet there is more than 60 from as many task forces that were sent down. Maybe only 60 had made it at the last check? (OSFM later claimed the number was 75).
P: What are some of the other issues you have seen?
J: There is gross mismanagement of resources and funds, along with the terrible leadership that unfortunately plagues much of Oregon fire departments. It makes me turn red watching the continuation of it locally, on the state level, as well as on the federal level. And the wild land fires are some of the worst scenarios.
P: What do you think are the contributing factors with the Palisades fire? Mismanagement of land and resources? Climate change?
J: The biggest factor in all wildland fires and the reason we have so many is gross mismanagement of forest lands. Whether it’s by state or federal – which is a whole other mess of conflict. Without removing the fuel from these lands, you turn them into tinderboxes just waiting for the right conditions. From there it goes to resource management. I can tell you from first-hand experience that wildland firefighting is its own economy in of itself, and a huge money (making) operation. I can’t tell you how many times I watched a fire catch and officials would take their time dispatching resources to allow it to grow to make it a bigger event. It sounds sick and twisted, but on top of the money that gets thrown around to (all these agencies) and higher ups in both the service as well as state government, there is the desire to want to be apart of these fires to make names for themselves. For example, why does it make sense that we send a crew in a truck to scout it? Why not start with a fixed wing (airplane) that has water or retardant on board to blast it with overkill and squash it (right away)? They don’t pull out rotary (helicopters) or fixed wing options until much, much later. It’s also why Dell Smith’s 747 tanker (large airplane that has a very large payload) failed. They didn’t want to use something so efficient. In the case of the Palisades fire, there is obviously a shortage of water, personnel, and equipment.
P: That’s fascinating. These people just can’t seem to get out of their own way!
J: You have no idea how bad it is. The fire service is so protected to maintain a good appearance, that anyone outside of the agencies have no idea.
Question from this morning:
P: I’ve heard the term “strike team” thrown around a lot. What is that?
J: A strike team is put together of five firefighting apparatuses that is quickly deployed for an incident. I don’t know the specific number of how many different strike teams across Oregon were deployed for the Palisades fire. I know that one detail was assigned yesterday evening to make fire breaks* (Friday night – approximately 11pm).
*A fire break is a gap in vegetation or combustible material that acts as a barrier to slow down the progress of a wildfire.
The Oregon State Fire Marshall’s office has denied that there were any delays in getting Oregon firefighters to the Palisades fire. They did finally acknowledge today that the Sacramento inspection did happen, and they say the teams were given assignments on Friday, but are very vague about what those assignments were, although they never said those assignments included fighting the fire.
I have no issues with fire fighters. I have issues with bureaucracy making horrible incidents like the Palisades fire worse with red tape and incompetence. As the Palisades fire continues to rage (only 10% contained by this afternoon) fire fighters shouldn’t have to deal with unnecessarily red tape that will cost people their homes or even their lives.
