Unprecedented wildfires in Los Angeles County have left a trail of destruction, with entire neighborhoods decimated. Fire officials admit they are unprepared for the scale of the disaster, grappling with multiple simultaneous blazes.
ABC7's Josh Haskell, who grew up in the community, believes 50 to 75% of Pacific Palisades is gone, adding that the number is not an exaggeration. Fire departments in Los Angeles have long had to deal with wildfires crouching close to homes and businesses., which have engulfed over 16,000 acres as of Wednesday afternoon, have left first responders stretched thin, according to Anthony C. Marrone, the fire chief of the County of Los Angeles Fire Department.
'LA County and all 29 fire departments in our county are not prepared for this type of widespread disaster,' he said during a news conference Wednesday morning.A man walks past a fire-ravaged business after the Eaton Fire swept through Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025 in Altadena, Calif.'The LA County Fire Department was prepared for one or two major brush fires, but not four, especially given the sustained winds and low abilities,' he added. As of Wednesday afternoon, there were wildfires burning in Los Angeles county, officials said. Environmental experts who have studied wildfires in the region agreed -- and noted that the fires' unprecedented nature makes it extremely difficult to resolve on a moment's notice. 'This particular event is a rare high-impact event,' Joshua Lee Pulsipher, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at the University of Waterloo, who has researched mitigating wildfires, told ABC News. 'You could have a whole army of resources available but it would be at a great cost for something that may not be warranted.' The Palisades Fire burns a residence in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.Still, experts said that fire department officials can take steps to mitigate and prevent severe damage and har
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