"The National Guard's FireGuard program, which analyzes images from military satellites to distribute real-time fire progression maps several times an hour, is considered particularly helpful to fire officials when aircraft can't fly. But officials with the L.A. County Fire Department said they weren't aware of the resource during the Eaton fire and therefore didn't utilize FireGuard's data or maps. This may have left Altadena at a disadvantage."
"With all aircraft grounded within an hour of the Eaton fire's start, fire officials lost significant situational awareness and were forced to rely almost exclusively on ground observations. That became increasingly difficult as night fell, smoke intensified and powerful winds pushed flames and embers farther and more rapidly into neighborhoods. The county has faced months of criticism after The Times revealed in January that officials did not order evacuations for west Altadena until nine hours after the fire started."
Los Angeles County Fire Department did not have access to the National Guard's FireGuard satellite-based fire-tracking program during the Eaton fire, depriving officials of real-time satellite-derived fire progression maps. FireGuard provides near-real-time maps when aircraft cannot fly, but county officials were unaware of the resource and did not use its data. All aircraft were grounded within an hour, forcing reliance on ground observations that became less reliable as night fell, smoke intensified and strong winds spread flames and embers faster into neighborhoods. Evacuation alerts for west Altadena were delayed by nine hours, and 18 of 19 fire victims were found in west Altadena. The county's lack of FireGuard access contrasts with most large California agencies that used the program.
Read at Los Angeles Times
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]