Pilot describes harrowing flights over LA's Pacific Palisades

A forest fire pilot describes the harrowing experience of flying over the Pacific Palisades fire

"It was like a warzone on the ground with the amount of destruction."

:: Los Angeles, California

:: Timothy Thomas, CalFire Forestry Fire Pilot

:: January 16, 2025

"It was sobering to be in the air and see the destruction from there. How many homes were burning // so we knew that we were going to be busy. And compared to most of the fires we see in the season, this is on a scale of destruction to the urban center that we haven't seen.”

“With fires such as the Palisades fire, you have to make the hard choice of which house you're going to save and which house is lost. That is the hardest thing about these fires, and it's the hardest thing about the decision-making process in the cockpit as a crew that we have to make. And the big difference between wildland and structure protection.”

Thomas described witnessing the scale of destruction from the sky as he flew over the fire zone during his initial orientation flight near Malibu last Wednesday (January 8). He said within the first 24-hour window, the damage was already visible as homes were completely engulfed in flames and he instantly recognized it was not a normal fire.

Thomas told Reuters the dangerously high wind speeds and rapid rate of spread were two critical factors that made the fight from the sky more difficult, as the crew targeted water drops from above. And he said with urban firs, tough decisions have to be made.

Thomas is among dozens of pilots from around the United States and Canada who rushed to Los Angeles to drop fire retardant and water on fires encircling the city, in a disaster that has claimed at least 25 lives and destroyed thousands of homes and entire neighborhoods.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pilot-describes-harrowing-flights-over-154727537.html