Los Angeles FFs Respond to More than 3K Calls on Busy July 4
By Alex Wigglesworth
Source Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles County banned official Fourth of July fireworks displays due to the coronavirus outbreak, but that didn't appear to dissuade people from celebrating at home.
L.A. firefighters responded to thousands of emergency calls Saturday and extinguished at least one large blaze that consumed half an apartment complex in Northridge, officials said.
"As it always is, the Fourth of July was a busier night for all different types of fires," said Margaret Stewart, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The LAFD, which serves the city of Los Angeles, averages just under 1,400 calls for service over a typical 24-hour period. On Saturday, it responded to 1,738 calls for service, Stewart said.
They included 200 calls reporting rubbish fires, 103 reporting tree fires, 40 reports of structure fires, 28 of grass fires and 11 of brush fires, she said.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department, which serves unincorporated L.A. County and 59 cities, also saw a higher-than-normal call volume. The department responded to more than 1,600 calls for service Saturday, compared with an average of 1,100 to 1,200 calls, said Sky Cornell, public information officer. Nearly 500 of those calls were received in the one-hour period between 9 and 10 p.m., he said.
County fire officials were working Sunday morning to determine how many of the calls were related to fireworks.
In the city of L.A., the most serious incident took place when fireworks ignited several large palm trees in Northridge and the flames spread to a neighboring apartment complex, destroying several units and displacing about 50 residents, Stewart said.
"Whereas people like to disregard and create their reasons for why they think fireworks are illegal, last night proved the point in terms of a tree fire that extended into an apartment building," Stewart said.
The fire was reported in the 8600 block of North Wilbur Avenue shortly before 9:30 p.m. It took 81 firefighters 43 minutes to extinguish the palm trees and eight apartment units that were fully engulfed, officials said. Multiple residents were rescued, and three people were hospitalized for smoke inhalation, the fire department said.
Embers from the burning palm trees also spread to the roof of a second eight-unit apartment building in the complex, starting a surface fire, but firefighters were able to put it out before it caused major damage, the department said.
An investigation by LAFD's arson and counterterrorism unit determined the fire was started by illegal fireworks, officials said.
Earlier in the week, L.A. County public health officials announced that the county was temporarily banning fireworks displays and closing beaches to avoid crowding during the holiday weekend in a bid to slow an alarming surge in coronavirus cases.
The city of Lancaster chose to defy the ban by holding a public fireworks show at the Lancaster National Soccer Center. Parking lots were closed, and residents were encouraged to watch from their homes or isolated outdoor areas.
The city's mayor framed the move as a political statement in comments on social media.
"The ultra left is trying to steal 4th of July," Mayor R. Rex Parris wrote on Facebook. "In our city, we celebrate being Americans. Please come visit me in jail, because no one is going to stop 4th of July in our city."
The display, which was live-streamed on the city's Facebook page, took place without incident.
Despite the relative dearth of official fireworks shows, the backyard displays left the region dealing with poor air quality. Fireworks emit high levels of particulate matter and metal air pollutants, and July 4 and 5 are typically among the region's worst days when it comes to high levels of fine particulate matters in the air, health officials said.
Air quality throughout most of L.A. County ranged from unhealthy to very unhealthy as of Sunday morning, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Where the air quality was deemed very unhealthy, which included central L.A., portions of the coast, and parts of the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys, residents were advised to avoid prolonged exertion. People with heart or lung disease, older adults and children were advised to avoid all physical activity outdoors in those areas.
Meanwhile, drier conditions, hotter temperatures and high winds in some parts of L.A. County raised concern about the potential for fires to spread quickly.
Minimum humidities dropped to the single digits and teens in many inland and foothill areas on Sunday, while high temperatures in those areas were forecast to reach up to 10 degrees above normal, the National Weather Service said.
Gusty winds were expected to hit the Castaic Lake area, mountains of Ventura County and the south coast of Santa Barbara County on Sunday night. The "sundowner" winds are northerly winds driven by differences in pressure that tend to strengthen in the evening and overnight hours, said Lisa Phillips, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
Combined, the weather conditions create an elevated fire risk that is not unusual for this time of year, she said.
"In this time period, we're dealing with a lot of conditions starting to reach elevated fire weather conditions, just periodically," Phillips said. "We're in our fire season now."
Temperatures were expected to cool off gradually starting Monday, with coastal areas seeing highs in the mid-70s and valleys in the upper 80s by Thursday, ahead of another warm-up forecast for Friday. But the increased risk of fire was expected to persist, Phillips said.
"Really, everyone should be considering most days to be elevated, just in terms of precautions we have to be taking with the season changing," she said.
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