FOUR MAJOR FIRES DESTROY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, DRIVEN BY SLOWING WINDS, CREATING A BELT OF FIRE AROUND LOS ANGELES AND SANTA MONICA. WE REPORT THE TESTIMONY OF PROFESSOR MARIA RITA D’ORSOGNA, ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST, TEACHES AT CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LIVES IN LOS ANGELES
Four major wildfires are ravaging Southern California, driven by high winds, forming a fire belt around Los Angeles and Santa Monica.
The Palisades Fire, burning in the Pacific Palisades area, is destroying a populated area about 20 miles west of downtown Los Angeles. The flames, fanned by hot winds, broke out on Tuesday, January 7, and devoured more than 11,800 hectares of land (about 4,700 hectares).
East of Los Angeles, the Eaton Fire is advancing into Eaton Canyon and threatening Pasadena. Another 10,000 hectares (about 4,000 acres) were seized on the night of Wednesday, January 8 alone. Farther north, in the San Fernando Valley, the Hurst Fire expanded to 850 acres. In the smallest Hollywood Hills, the Sunset Fire destroyed at least 24 acres of hiking trails and luxury mansions.
Firefighters are having serious problems finding water to extinguish the flames. Due to the low pressure in the pipes, even household water is undrinkable in many affected areas. After months of drought, the vegetation in the region is completely dry and therefore burns quickly like straw.
The hot and intense winds, known as Santa Ana Winds or Devil winds “winds of the devil”inflate to 129 km/h, accelerating the advance of the fires. These phenomena are common in Southern California, but are becoming more frequent and dangerous climate changes. (Focus source)
We report the testimony of Professor Maria Rita D’Orsogna, environmentalist, teaches at California State University, lives in Los Angeles
You wake up and think it’s still night because the sky is gray. And then you look outside and you see a lot of unnatural colors of the sky. Orange, yellow, dark gray, light gray. Thick and threatening cloud shapes. If you try hard, you might even see blue somewhere in the distance.
The air stinks. You are thirsty. The throat senses that there are unnatural things nearby. The skin is dry. You no longer have a voice.
Turn on the TV and hear instead the broken voices of journalists trying to tell us the story. Voice broken by fatigue, by the enormity of what is happening, by impotence.
Fires are everywhere. Acres and hectares and hectares of burning forest. There simply aren’t enough people to stop them. They come from Oregon and Nevada. But the fire wins. At least for now. No containment at this time.
I’ve seen many fires here in Los Angeles, but never like this one. So close to home, so vast, so many and close to places and people that are dear to me. So threatening and you feel small in their presence. And then you feel sorry for the firefighters who will never make it, for those who have lost little or much. For the collective loss of entire communities.
It’s not easy to explain Los Angeles
It is not easy to explain this city because it goes beyond all European city plans. To anyone in the know, Los Angeles County, a huge megalopolis, is actually a collection of mid-sized centers, each with its own history, cultural peculiarities and beauty.
I know some people who have lost their homes and others who have been evacuated for their safety. The Santa Monica evacuation line is 1.2 miles from my house. But we are all safe. And so the thought turns to what remains outside and what will arrive inside.
I haven’t left the house yet. But I know it will break my heart to know that three miles of the Pacific Coast Highway went up in flames. The place where I sometimes went to eat fresh fish, in Malibu, burned down. It’s called Reel Inn. A place from other times, simple and good-natured. Everyone knows and loves him here.
Pacific Palisades Burned High. I’ve walked past it at least a thousand times. Also the houses behind it. Palisades is an area for the wealthy, but if you look closely, it still has the feel of a small town from a bygone era. I go there every now and then to get my nails done, to go to the different cafes in the area, to see the architecture of Richard Neutra, to look at the ocean and among the bougainvillea from above, to see Tom to visit. I don’t know what’s left. The TV says a thousand houses have burned down. It also looks like Tom’s.
Hot and intense winds accelerate the advance of fires
Altadena is close to the mountains, on the other side. I often go to the nearby Sierra Madre to visit Cynthia and her children, of whom I am the godmother. She has a huge garden. We sit and tell each other and laugh. Sometimes we walk and I always tell her that I feel like I’m in pioneer California. We planted avocado trees and the deer came to eat the leaves. Every time I go there I take away figs and lemons. Cynthia was evacuated, along with her elderly mother and children.
In the meantime, they announce that they have evacuated the Canada-Flintridge. NASA has a presence and most of the families in the area are scientists or related people. There are also the Descanso Gardens. Nice. One of my students, Eliya, lives there. We did a lot with her, including a small documentary about drug use. She’s 16 and I love her. I’ll write it down. She was also evacuated with her family.
They advertise to save water and cooking when you use it at home
Here, this is a bit of my Los Angeles, which is on fire today. A city that will never be mine as it is for those born here, but that I really wanted to have as mine and where I became the person I am. Oil, science, film, history, architecture. I can’t explain how grateful I am for this place, for the people, for the beautiful things I have learned.
It’s seven o’clock. I’m getting ready. I’m just going to go outside and see what it is.
Maria Rita D’Orsogna