California wildfires fully contained three weeks after fires began

2 hrs ago

Devin Pavlou Digital Producer

By Devin Pavlou (Digital Producer)

California officials announced Friday, Jan. 31, that fire crews have fully contained the Eaton and Palisades wildfires after three weeks of fighting. At least 29 people were killed by the two fires.

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According to Cal Fire, the 14,000-acre Eaton Fire was first reported on Jan. 7, in southern California. The Palisades Fire started the same day and burned more than 23,000 acres.

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What caused the fires?

Fire officials have not determined a confirmed cause of the fires. However, high winds and dry vegetation caused the fire to ignite quickly and burn large areas rapidly. The high wind also prevented helicopters and planes from assisting firefighters on the ground.

Local authorities have made several arrests following the fires. The most notorious of the arrests was on Jan. 9, after neighbors helped arrest a man they said was trying to start fires with a blowtorch. A convicted arsonist was later arrested in Los Angeles after impersonating a firefighter. Authorities said the man and his wife were driving a fake fire truck when police found them near the Palisades Fire on Jan. 18.

What was the response to the fire like?

State officials said more than 16,000 personnel responded to the fire. They said this was the state’s biggest investment in fire response in history.

As the fire was burning, fire crews said they ran out of water to reduce the flames. Los Angeles fire officials said that during the height of the fire, some hydrants ran dry due to the high demand. They said at one point, about 1,000 buildings were simultaneously on fire.

The issue caused some politicians to blame the state’s water policy. However, experts and officials said supply wasn’t an issue, it was just the system being overstressed during the fire.

Are Newsom and Trump cooperating?

Initially, after the fire, President Donald Trump threatened to withhold aid from California unless the state changed its water laws and implemented laws requiring an ID to vote, according to BBC News.

“After that, I will be the greatest president that California has ever seen,” Trump said.

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom released a statement after the comment saying, “Conditioning aid for American citizens is wrong.”

President Trump also claimed that he ordered the military to go into the states and “turn on the water” so firefighters would have more water to soak the flames. However, state officials said they had to stop the Army Corps of Engineers from increasing flow to two reservoirs that were at max capacity. Before the Corps stopped, local authorities had to move equipment and notify farms in the area about potential flooding.

Trump and Newsom met as they toured the damage left behind by the fire. During the meeting, both leaders talked about helping the area rebuild.

“We wanna get it fixed. We wanna get the problem fixed,” Trump said while he and Newsom met with reporters.

“Most importantly, thank you for being here,” Newsom said to Trump. “It means a great deal to all of us. We’re gonna need your support.”

With both major fires contained, local leaders are now working to build back the communities devastated by the fires. Officials said more than 12,000 structures were destroyed by the fires.