aiming to create a defensive barrier around homes, said Marco Rodriguez, a captain with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, who is also working as the incident public information officer for the Palisades fire.
A shift in the winds in the last two hours or so allowed firefighters to make progress in the area, he added, but the winds are expected to pick up again later this afternoon. “We’re using this small window that we have to try to put a defensible space around the houses,” stage engines and crews, Captain Rodriguez said.
About 28,500 electricity customers in the service area of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power remained without power on Saturday afternoon, the utility reported. Work crews had restored more than 24,000 customers overnight and more than 340,000 customers since the beginning of the windstorm.
From the top of Mountaingate Drive and looking into the Mandeville Canyon below in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, I can see a home on fire. Helicopters are dropping water in an attempt to protect other homes. There are patches of flames all throughout the canyon.
The number of California National Guard members activated to respond to the Los Angeles fires will double to 1,680, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Saturday. They have been stationed at traffic checkpoints to keep people from entering communities that were devastated by the fires, such as Altadena. Other members are supporting wildfire suppression efforts.
Reporting from Los Angeles
The number of electricity customers whose power was deliberately shut off by Southern California Edison to prevent fires has dropped below 100,000, after affecting twice as many earlier this week. Edison customers whose electricity was cut for safety fell to about 63,000 late on Saturday morning.
Reporting from Los Angeles
Southern California Edison said in a filing late on Friday that one of its high-voltage power lines experienced problems at about the time when the Hurst fire was reported in Sylmar on Jan. 7. The downed electrical equipment was found at a transmission tower on the Eagle Rock/Sylmar circuit, the utility reported.
Reporting from Los Angeles
The Hurst fire was reported at 10:10 p.m. on Jan. 7, and problems along the transmission line were noticed at about 10:11 p.m. Edison said that it was unclear whether the problems and fallen power line happened before or after the fire started. The investigation is continuing.
