The California National Guard will be used to assist law enforcement after Governor Gavin Newsom approved a request for assistance from Los Angeles County.
Authorities in the area have warned of looters and scammers “targeting vulnerable victims” and confirmed that arrests have been made.
Hundreds of National Guard members will be deployed to bolster local law enforcement capacity and stationed at traffic control points to ensure security, according to a statement from Newsom’s office.
“For those seeking to take advantage of communities, let me be clear: looting will not be tolerated”
Gavin Newsom, Governor of California
The mobilization will increase the number of personnel to 8,000, including firefighters, according to the statement.
Newsom also thanked first responders and emergency teams for their hard work and described the mobilization as part of the state’s initiative to “put everything at our disposal” to protect communities.
At a news conference Thursday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said the county was drafting paperwork to impose a curfew in affected areas that are under .
“As soon as we get everything done, we can enact it tomorrow night,” Luna told reporters.
How the fire started
As research continued, satellite imagery and data identified the areas where they initially emerged.
Palisades Fire: The California Department of Forestry and Fire, known as Cal Fire, reported that the Palisades fire started at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday (7).
A satellite image from the European Space Agency, taken at 10:37 a.m. local time on Tuesday, shows the fire that would eventually become the Palisades. It shows a significant plume of smoke coming from an area directly east of Los Angeles’ The Summit neighborhood.
Orora Technology, a thermal intelligence company that detects, tracks and predicts wildfires using satellites, also identified a hotspot in that area at 10:35 a.m. local time on Tuesday.
Eaton Fire: Cal Fire said the Eaton fire began at 6:18 p.m. local time, also on Tuesday. The first hot spot detected by Orora Technologies was at 6:35 p.m. near the Eaton Creek area east of Altadena.
In addition to a number of hiking trails, there are two major power lines, owned and operated by Southern California Edison, in the area. One line is 220 kilovolts and the other is 66 kilovolts.
It is unclear at this time whether these transmission lines played any role in starting the Eaton Fire at this time.
Southern California Edison said the two main power lines near the Eaton Fire ignition site were de-energized before the fire started.
