The Palisades Fire started at about 10:20 a.m. Tuesday, near Temescal Ridge Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

At first, it was native chaparral in the surrounding hills that burned. But the fire quickly grew to 200 acres in just 12 minutes, driven by 80 mph winds, pushing into nearby neighborhoods.

“The bottom line is the winds far outweigh the fuel in terms of fire spread in a situation like this,” said Jon Keeley, fire ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. “When you have these winds it makes fuels less relevant. And the fuels are definitely not relevant once it gets into the urban environment, because the primary fuels are the homes.”

https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/fact-check-could-brush-clearance-have-prevented-the-palisades-fire

I was a reporter going to cover a story at a local community college when I saw the huge plume of smoke, so the photographer and I made a snap decision to cover the fire instead. When we reached a cafe at Barrett Junction at the base of a mountain, we watched in horror as the fire exploded over the top from Potrero, where it had started.

A Cal Fire guy at the Cal Fire base camp shouted "Run! Run for your lives!" Even Hell's Angels ran for their motorcycles and hauled ass out of there.

As I drove out along the 2-lane highway, we could see the fire advancing behind us, literrally burning up the highway behind us. Scariest damn thing I've ever seen. That fire burned for nearly 2 weeks, scorched 90,000 acres, and joined with several other massive fires that collectively burned over 368,000 acres and destroyed or damaged 1,350 homes and 100 businesses, also fueling evacuation of more than half a million people.

You cannot even imagine how fast a wildfire fueled by 100 mph hurricane force winds can advance--there is absolutely nothing that can stop it, since planes can't fly in such high winds. Here are photos, taken moments before the flames roared down the mountainside and we were told to run for our lives:
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Maybe he hasn't *personally* seen 100 MPH winds, but they have been a factor before.

California needs to prepare for several such fires every year; *then* worry about spending money on anything else.

Deanne Criswell
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deanne_Criswell

I wouldn't want her job.

She is not mistaken.

and THEN spend money on other things?

that simply cannot be planned for or mitigated. California has 13 million acres of chaparral. How much do you clear to reduce wildfires and not disturb animal habitats? At what expense, considering it grows back!

We always talk about flood control in Houston, (where I've lived most of my 68 years) but everyone always bitches if they have to raise taxes to pay for it. They still keep paving over more grasslands because developers gotta develop! Then a storm like Harvey comes along with rain that isn't measured in inches, it's measured in FEET. One town near the coast (Nederland) got 5 FEET of rain, and since the Gulf Coast is flat as a pancake, the water simply has nowhere to go. I was stranded in my apartment for 10 days! Hundreds of thousands of homes flooded. How do you plan for or mitigate what was called a 1000 year event? It isn't realistically possible.

The best you can do is to plan for evacuation. I have a crate for my pets. During hurricane season, I have a bug out bag with 1 weeks worth of all my meds, a couple of changes of clothes and $500 cash. I have a few gallons of water on hand and some non perishable food. I keep my gas tank at least half full during those 6 months. I know which evacuation routes are available, as well as some alternates. I also have family photos and important documents scanned and saved online.

A few years ago, there was a book called The Big Burn iirc about the 1910 fire that burned through Idaho and Montana at the very beginning of the US Forest Service. It described in frightening detail how the fires exploded generating tornado level winds.

Interestingly as a reporter that fact helped me stop FEMA from trying to claw back money paid to fire survivors a few years later. FEMA claimed an elderly, disabled couple in Potrero had been paid mistakenly as their damage was caused by wind, not fire.

I was able to dig out reports from 2007 in which Cal Fire reported that the fire produced its own weather system, fueling a tornado. I also asked FEMA, does wind cause ashes? Which of course it doesn't, then after they acknowledged this, I pointed out that the damage to the couple's house came from ashes that blew into wall voids and into the attic, when the roof was partially torn off. They admitted they were wrong and backed off of not only that fire victim, but all 2007 fire victims in San Diego County.

There are quite a few other recorded cases of fire tornados in recent years elsewhere, documented with videos and still photos.

than most any other region on the planet. It's an insult to generations of hard-working men and women to say they were 'unprepared'. The magnitude of this firestorm was unstoppable by any reasonable measure. The best efforts can only lead to containment and cleanup without the GOP ghouls mucking things up.