Are there more fires than usual in Los Angeles? What we know

We’ve all been glued to our phones these past few days, following a hellish landscape of fire activity.

This week, several bushfires broke out, some in a single day.

Apps like Monitoring service have grown significantly in popularity due to the ability to send users virtually real-time updates on wildfire conditions, including new fires that appear.

As concerned Angelenos continue to focus on the flames, are we actually seeing more fires happening or are we just more aware of them? Here’s what we know and what we don’t yet know about the fire spinner.

Thousands of fires occur every year

Between the large wildfires ravaging Los Angeles County, a number of smaller fires, like that of Woodley Fire in Van Nuys, the Foothills Fire in Pacoima, and the Creek Fire in Tujunga — also appeared. Just as I was writing this story on Friday, the Archer’s fire in the hills of Granada started and came under control.

Some of these may be localized fires started by embers, which may spread three or four miles away of the primary fire. But we still don’t know what caused the fires that occurred this week.

Margaret Steward, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Fire Department, said we have two categories of activities going on. At this time of year, with low relative humidity, if things like car and trash fires reach the grass, it can ignite. That’s normal, but then we have these massive wind-driven fires, which aren’t.

“We are experiencing many abnormal incidents on top of our normal daily operations, making the situation seem even worse,” she said.

Area firefighters respond to thousands of fires each year.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department, which covers 60 cities and unincorporated parts of the county, such as Altadena, has treated nearly 11,000 incidents in 2023 aloneincluding 613 bush fires. In addition to this, CalFire responded to 82 fires on state lands in LA County – with a majority of people under 10 acres.

For the City of Los Angeles, the latest annual data from the City Comptroller’s Office shows the total number of off-structure fires was nearly 33,000 in fiscal year 2023. (It’s unclear how big they were or what types of fires they were.)

How is this moment different?

Former vice president of content at KPCC before it was renamed LAist, Russ Stanton, lost his Altadena home in the Eaton Fire and experienced both types of activity.

He said he has seen about three small bushfires break out near his home in the past 18 months.

Los Angeles County firefighters responded quickly, he said, knocking them out in about 10 minutes. Crews arrived by helicopter to respond, and after one of the fires, he recalled seeing a plane come in and drop fire retardant.

“It was almost over the top,” Stanton said. “It was really impressive. We never took it for granted that where we lived there would always be risks. »

But on Tuesday, unusually strong winds began to blow, which fueled the Palisades fire. This means that when the Eaton Fire broke out in Altadena, it was exacerbated by these winds, causing a larger fire. The helicopters that would normally be called in were unable to fly into the wind, and the firefighting resources that had previously responded so quickly were now focused on the west side.

When Stanton’s son listened to the fire scanner traffic, it was clear that any help provided could only focus on saving lives, not homes. So they packed their bags and left once they could see the flames.

“If the Pacific Palisades fire had not started, I think the outcome would have been very different from what happened in Altadena,” he said.

It was a perfect storm. But as winds improve and more firefighting resources arrive from other counties and states, some smaller fires are quickly being put out again before they grow too large. (Fingers crossed.)