The Brief

It’s been five years since the Woolsey Fire tore across Los Angeles and Ventura counties, killing three people and destroying more than 1,600 structures.

Since then, we’ve been forced to adapt to living with devastating fires year after year across the state, making things quite different now than they were on Nov. 8, 2018.

The ruins of an ocean view home are seen in the aftermath of the Woolsey Fire in Malibu, California on Nov. 14, 2018.

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David McNew

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AFP via Getty Images

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Here are a few of the things that have changed when it comes to living with fire in Southern California.

We fully understand how bad fires can be

The Woolsey Fire fundamentally changed our understanding of just how violent and fast moving fires in Southern California can be.

Not that the Thomas Fire and the Tubbs Fire the year before, or the deadly Cedar Fire in 2003, didn’t have an impact, but Woolsey was so shocking in its spectacle, tearing through one of the most populated regions of the country in less than 24 hours, that it solidified the feeling of just how unprepared we were for the new normal that was unfolding.

A hospital worker embraces her co-worker as they evacuate patients from the Feather River Hospital during the Camp Fire on Nov. 8, 2018 in Paradise, California.

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The Camp Fire, which was destroying the town of Paradise 415 miles north at the same time as Woolsey, contributed to that feeling across a broader swath of the state, even more so.

Since then, deadly, unstoppable conflagrations have become somewhat expected, brought on in many places by a combination of overzealous fire suppression, aging infrastructure, and extreme drought and heat exacerbated by climate change.

Our firefighting infrastructure has its limits

With the Woolsey and Camp fires burning at the same time, firefighting forces throughout the state were completely overwhelmed.

Only about 50% of the requested firefighting resources were sent to Woolsey, according to L.A. County’s after action report.

A firefighter pulls a hose line as smoke rises into a pyrocumulus cloud while firefighters work to contain wildfire along Bautista Canyon Road during the Fairview Fire in the San Bernardino National Forest near Hemet, California, on September 7, 2022.

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AFP

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In the years that followed, repeated hundred thousand-plus-acre complexes maxed out both the number of aircraft available and people on the ground. And the long, arduous fire seasons have taken a toll on personnel as well, jeopardizing their health and wildfire response.

Residents have been forced to accept that there’s a limit to firefighting resources, and sometimes they just need to get out of the way and save themselves, as their homes are going to be lost.

Normal people feel the need to step in

Our firefighting limits were realized by many during Woolsey, as multiple communities felt abandoned during the fire as they expected their homes to be saved.

In response, some neighborhood groups bought trucks, hoses and other equipment, in an effort to lead their own firefighting efforts if they ever again felt abandoned during a crisis.

I covered one such group in Bell Canyon, who have gone through training, and plan on battling flames until professionals with gear show up.

A volunteer firefighter in Bell Canyon walks past their brush truck.

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Jacob Margolis

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Neither L.A. County nor Ventura County fire officials endorse regular citizens fighting fire, but the former has recognized the need to directly interface with these communities, and include them in the process of preparation and response.

They’re establishing a community brigade program to help ameliorate feelings of alienation. The goal isn’t to have normal folks fight fire, but to train them to help with home and brush prep in advance, and evacuations when needed. Establishing contact with people who know the community gives them an in, and will hopefully smooth communications.

The Bell Canyon Volunteer Wildland Fire Department practices handling a hose.

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Jacob Margolis

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“The goal for the program is to kind of show that this is a shared risk, and it's a shared responsibility to respond to that risk between the community members and the agencies,” said Keegan Gibbs, whose family lost their home in Malibu’s Point Dume community during Woolsey. He’s been involved with the creation of the program.

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Relying on heavier air power

In 2021, a so-called quick reaction force made up of burly helicopters from Coulson Aviation was created to assist Ventura, L.A. and Orange counties on brush fires.

The program is partly funded by Southern California Edison, which was found responsible for starting Woolsey.

As soon as the alert goes out for a first-alarm brush fire, CH-47 Chinooks (which carry 3,000 gallons of water or retardant), along with other support aircraft, take off from nearby airports. The idea being that if they can hit fires early, they can help stop spread. They’re available 24/7, can access fires in treacherous terrain and can fly at night.

“It’s really helping,” said L.A. County Fire Capt. Sheila Kelliher Berkoh.

A Los Angeles city firefighter monitors the Palisades fire above Santa Ynez Canyon near Pacific Palisades in the late hours of May 15, 2021. The fire had burned over 700 acres by nightfall, prompting evacuations.

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Emergency messaging systems still need to be improved

Effective emergency messaging during an unfolding crisis is notoriously difficult, and in L.A. County’s after action report for the Woolsey Fire, emergency agencies got knocked for their communication during the event.

Messaging during crisis can be clunky, as they're accidentally sent to people outside the area of concern, spreading confusion. And if you’re getting blasted by irrelevant messages all day, you might just ignore the one meant for you.

L.A. County Fire is trying a new system where they can alert people within specific high risk divisions, such as Topanga, Calabasas and Agoura. The hope is that they can use targeted messaging to more effectively coordinate among small groups, things like evacuation orders.

You can download the app and sign up.

Firefighters quickly got a fire under control near the historic Griffith Observatory and the iconic Hollywood sign on July 10, 2018.

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Mario Tama

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Whether this system will be any better than Wireless Emergency Alerts or text based services, is unclear, though it’s worth giving a shot to see if it helps during a crisis.

Any cellular-based system won’t mean much if networks go down, so make sure you buy an emergency radio as well. Or, better yet, leave before evacuation orders have to be issued.

You don’t want to get caught on the road with flames coming for you, as could easily happen in an emergency situation in Topanga Canyon.

What did I miss?

What did the Woolsey Fire teach you? What do you think it changed here in Southern California?

Always feel free to send me a note via the Hearken link below.

Topline:

The case: In September, the city settled a lawsuit brought forward by two brothers in their 70s who said they suffered serious injuries after an LAPD officer crashed into their car. Days before the $18 million settlement was reached, lawyers for the brothers said Feldstein Soto called an expert witness testifying for the plaintiffs and “attempted to ingratiate herself with him and asked him to make a contribution to her political campaign,” according to a sworn declaration to the court by the plaintiffs’ attorney, Robert Glassman.

The response: Feldstein Soto did not respond to an interview request. Her spokesperson said the settlement “had nothing to do” with the expert witness. Her campaign manager told LAist the city attorney had been making a routine fundraising call and did not know the person had a role in the case, nor that there were pending requests for her office to pay him fees.

What Jurado says: In a statement to LAist, Jurado said she wants to “make sure that the city’s legal leadership is guided by integrity and accountability, especially when their choices affect public trust, civic rights and the city’s limited resources."

What’s next: The motion needs to go through a few committees before reaching the full City Council. If it passes, the motion calls for the city attorney to “report to council in closed session within 45 days regarding the ethics breach violation and give updates to the City Council."

Every year in Santa Ana, Luis Cantabrana turns the front of his home into an elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe that draws hundreds of visitors.

Along the front of the house, the multi-colored altar is filled with lights, flowers and a stained-glass tapestry behind a sculpture of the Lady of Guadalupe. Cantabrana’s roof also is lit up with the green, white and red lights that spell out “Virgen de Guadalupe” and a cross.

Visitors are welcomed with music and the smell of roses as they celebrate the saint, but this year’s gathering comes after a dark year for immigrant communities.

Luis Cantabrana stands in front of the stunning altar he built in front of his home in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe. Every year, his display draws hundreds of visitors.

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Destiny Torres

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Why do they celebrate? 

In 1513, the Virgin Mary appeared before St. Juan Diego between Dec. 9 and Dec. 12, asking him to build a church in her honor. Her image — a brown-skinned woman wearing a green veil with her hands together in prayer and an angel at her feet — miraculously appeared on his cloak.

To celebrate in Santa Ana, worshippers gathered late-night Wednesday and in the very early hours Dec. 12 to pray the rosary, sing hymns and celebrate the saint.

Cantabrana has hosted worshippers at his home for 27 years — 17 in Santa Ana.

The altar started out small, he said, and over the years, he added a fabric background, more lights and flowers (lots and lots of flowers).

“It started with me making a promise to la Virgen de Guadalupe that while I had life and a home to build an altar, that I would do it,” Cantabrana said. “Everything you see in photos and videos is pretty, but when you come and see it live, it's more than pretty. It's beautiful.”

The Santa Ana home's elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe draws hundreds of visitors each year.

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Destiny Torres

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LAist

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Gathering in a time of turmoil 

Many also look to the Lady of Guadalupe for protection, especially at a time when federal enforcement has rattled immigrant communities.

“People don’t want to go to work, they don’t want to take their kids to school, but the love we have for our Virgen de Guadalupe,” Cantabrana said. “We see that la Virgen de Guadalupe has a lot of power, and so we know immigration [enforcement] won’t come here.”

Margarita Lopez of Garden Grove has been visiting the altar for three years with her husband. She’s been celebrating the Virgencita since she was a young girl. Honoring the saint is as important now as ever, she said.

“We ask, and she performs miracles,” Lopez said.

Claudia Tapia, a lifelong Santa Ana resident, said the Virgin Mary represents strength.

“Right now, with everything going on, a lot of our families [have] turned and prayed to the Virgen for strength during these times,” Tapia said. “She's a very strong symbol of Mexican culture, of unity, of faith and of resilience.”

See it for yourself

The shrine will stay up into the new year on the corner of Broadway and Camile Street.

California’s unemployment agency kept paying cellphone bills for 4 1/2 years without checking whether its workers actually were using the devices.

That’s how it racked up $4.6 million in fees for mobile devices its workers were not using, according to a new state audit detailing wasteful spending at several government agencies.

The Employment Development Department’s excessive cellphone bills date to the COVID-19 pandemic, when it shifted call center employees to remote work and faced pressure to release benefits to millions of suddenly unemployed Californians.

It acquired 7,224 cellphones and wireless hotspots by December 2020. State auditors analyzed 54 months of invoices since then and found half the devices were unused for at least two years, 25% were unused for three years and 99 of them were never used at all.

The investigation, which auditors opened after receiving a tip, identified 6,285 devices that were unused for at least four consecutive months, and said the department spent $4.6 million on monthly service fees for them.

From the beginning, the department had about 2,000 more cellphones than call center employees, according to the audit. The gap widened over time after the pandemic ended and the department’s staffing returned to its normal headcount.

As of April, the audit said the department had 1,787 unemployment call center employees, but was paying monthly service fees for 5,097 mobile devices.

“Although obtaining the mobile devices during COVID-19 may have been a good idea to serve the public, continuing to pay the monthly service fees for so many unused devices, especially post-COVID-19, was wasteful,” the audit said.

Department officials told auditors they were unaware of the spending, but auditors pointed to regular invoices from Verizon that showed which phones were not being used.

“We would have expected EDD management to have reconsidered the need to pay the monthly service fees for so many devices that had no voice, message, or data usage,” the audit said.

The unemployment department began acting on the auditors’ findings in April, when it canceled service plans for 2,825 devices. It has since implemented a policy to terminate service plans for devices that go unused for 90 days.

The California state auditor highlighted the mobile devices in its regular report on “improper activities by state agencies and employees.” The audit also showed that the California Air Resources Board overpaid an employee who was on extended leave as he prepared to retire by $171,000.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.