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As the title of this blog implies, we live in Hollywood, which is a considerable distance from either the Palisades Fire or the Eaton Fire. and thanks be to the Almighty, we were neither burned out nor ordered to evacuate. On the other hand, the powerful wind gusts that fed the fires also brought down trees across the whole region, which in turn took down power lines and left several million households without electricity. Our own neighborhood was out from Wednesday morning to noon yesterday, so although we and our neighbors were safe, we were incommunicado.

The emerging consensus seems to be that the fires cmnstitute the worst disaster in Los Angeles history, which would put it above the previous top, the 1938 Los Angeles floods. Other lesser disasters include the 1933 Long Beach eartrhquake, the 1961 Bel Air fire, the 1965 Watts riots, the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, the 1992 Rodney King riots, and the 1994 Northridgw earthquake. But there were also strong reminders of the 1942 Battle of Los Angeles:

shortly after 2 a.m. on February 25, military radar picked up what appeared to be an enemy contact some 120 miles west of Los Angeles. Air raid sirens sounded and a citywide blackout was put into effect. Within minutes, troops had manned anti-aircraft guns and begun sweeping the skies with searchlights.

It was just after 3 a.m. when the shooting started. Following reports of an unidentified object in the skies, troops in Santa Monica unleashed a barrage of anti-aircraft and .50 caliber machine gun fire. Before long, many of the city’s other coastal defense weapons had joined in.

On top of the non-feasance by local and state leadership in managing the crisis, the performance of media across the board, both legacy and alt, was disgraceful. A good example was the so-called "Sunset Fire" on Wednesday evening:

The Sunset fire was reported at 2350 N. Solar Drive in the Hollywood Hills shortly after 5:30 p.m. and spread to 60 acres by 9:25 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Fire Department and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The fire created massive traffic jams as residents rushed to evacuate the densely populated area below Runyon Canyon.

But by the time the message was sent for a good part of Hollywood to evacuate, things were nevertheless under control:

The eastern perimeter of the fire was “holding well” at around 8:30 p.m. thanks to a fire road and the work of ground crews, according to a statement from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. And active flames were extinguished at the heel of the fire, while smoldering continued within the interior.

But the evacuiation order created a mass panic:

Traffic was bumper to bumper as people tried to flee the area, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced that the Police Department was being deployed to help manage the traffic. “We are working urgently to close roads, redirect traffic and expand access for LAFD vehicles to respond to the growing fire,” she said in a post on X.

The evacuation order was mostly lifted by midnight, entirely by early Thursday morning.

The acreage burned in the fire was also updated to 43 acres.

“Fortunately, the Sunset Fire is under control,” LAFD spokesperson Margaret Stewart said while announcing the evacuation update Thursday morning.

No structures at all were destroyed. In other words, it was a small brush fire thst was put out by routine measures, but panicked local officials overreacted, ordered a general evacuation of a good part of Hollywood, and set off a media frenzy. According to the BBC, of all outlets,

Much of the heart of Hollywood is blanketed in thick smoke. You can barely see the tops of the towering palm trees that line streets here.

It is utter chaos on the streets near the fire. People are using sweatshirts to cover their faces so they can breathe. Many are carrying bags and suitcases looking for a place to go.

Some are wearing pyjamas, clearly taken by surprise.

According to the Toronto Star,

As the Hollywood Hill fire raged Wednesday evening, several nearby landmarks like the Hollywood Bowl, the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the TCL Chinese Theatre fell under evacuation orders. Other landmarks, like the Hollywood sign and beaches in Santa Monica were photographed with plumes of thick black smoke rising in the background throughout Wednesday.

Nothing of the sort occurred; within a few hours of the evacuation order, the brush fire was out, and the authorities said mever mind. My own view was that the "Sunset fire" fiasco was the factor that led the media to back off on coverager, and they seem to have decided that having David Muir or Anderson Cooper going blah blah in front of raging flames was maybe overdoing things, and by Friday morning, they'd moved on to President Trump and Judge Merchan. The big story of Hollywood itself burning down wasn't going to happen, much as the BBC and Toronto Star wanted it to.

For now, the real issues are only startring to trickle out. I'll cover them in the next several days. But just looking at the "Sunset fire" episode, it was so quickly put out by routine firefighting tactics simply because the Hollywood water lines had adequate pressure, and a full reservoir was nearby from which helicopters could quickly draw water. Had these resources been available in Pacific Palisades, the outcome there might well have been the same as in Hollywood.