LOS ANGELES — Questions are still swirling around the cause of the Palisades Fire in California five months after it occurred. Recently released videos suggest that fireworks could have been the culprit of this devastating blaze.
Footage captured by UC San Diego cameras, acquired by the San Francisco Chronicle, is believed by some fire investigators to be solid evidence that a fire ignited on New Year’s Eve likely reignited, leading to one of California’s most destructive fires.
“I think calling it a rekindle is a valid thing,” said Terry Taylor, a retired wildland fire investigator.
Taylor has studied the two videos obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle side-by-side.
A nighttime video was recorded right around midnight on New Year’s Day. You see a flash on the ground, and then a fire erupts near the top of a hill.
The small brush fire, dubbed the Lachman Fire, sparked after neighbors said they heard fireworks.
Eric Robertson, a resident of Pacific Palisades, reported, “We were in the area on New Year’s morning and could hear fireworks being set off in our surroundings.”
The same UC San Diego camera captured a second video around 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 7, showing the first flames that exploded into the Palisades Fire.
When you watch them side-by-side, you can see the smoke rising in what appears to be the exact same area.
Some experts, like Taylor, think the videos support the theory that the Palisades Fire started from a still-smoldering hot spot left from the New Year’s Day fire.
“It is certainly a good supposition,” Taylor said.
The theory is nothing new.
Just days after the L.A. fires, our sister station, KABC, reported on side-by-side satellite images showing the burn scar from Jan. 1, and the beginning of what would become the behemoth Palisades Fire six days later.
“Is there a connection? 100% there’s a connection,” Pacific Palisades resident Jeremy Wineberg said. “Standing in the exact same ‘X’ mark, looking in the same direction, you’ll see the same cloud of smoke in the exact same spot.”
Both fires remain under investigation, so the question of “Did the Los Angeles Fire Department miss a hotspot?” remains.
Acting Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva told KABC Investigates that he doesn’t want to “Monday morning quarterback,” because he wasn’t chief when either fire sparked.
In a phone call with reporter Kevin Ozebek, he said he has never received a briefing that connects the two fires.
The ATF is also investigating, and the agency told KABC Investigates that no final conclusions have been made.
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