Lack Of Brush Clearance Questioned As Palisades Fire Rages: Report

PACIFIC PALISADES, CA — Among the allegations circulating this week is that the devastation caused by the Palisades Fire might have been mitigated if authorities had conducted more thorough hillside brush clearance.

Several well-known figures weighed in publicly on the issue of brush management, including Elon Musk, who wrote on X that the "biggest factor, in my opinion, is that crazy environmental regulations prevent building firebreaks and clearing brush near houses."

Former LA mayoral candidate and billionaire Rick Caruso also chimed in, telling ABC 7 that “the brush clearance alone, had that happened, would have just changed the trajectory of this fire."

Actress and producer Sara Foster also tweeted, "Our vegetation was overgrown, brush not cleared."

While scientists and fire officials share opposing opinions, several experts recently told LAist and the Los Angeles Times that they didn't think it would have made a significant difference in this case. Even those who are proponents of brush management have said that last week's windstorm, combined with dry fuels, created an unpredictable and unprecedented situation.

“All of the brush clearance, fuel breaks — they’re very effective on what we would consider a normal day,” Chief Brian Fennessy of the Orange County Fire Authority told the LA Times. “But what you’re talking about here is probably less than 1% of all the fires that we respond to in Southern California.”

The Palisades Fire sparked on Tuesday and exploded as it was fanned by dry winds with gusts up to 100 mph in some areas. It quickly tore through homes and leveled entire blocks. On Monday, it had been contained some but was still burning.

“The bottom line is the winds far outweigh the fuel in terms of fire spread in a situation like this,” Jon Keeley, a fire ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey told LAist. “When you have these winds it makes fuels less relevant. And the fuels are definitely not relevant once it gets into the urban environment, because the primary fuels are the homes.”

Essentially, Tuesday's firestorm was an anomaly.

"There is a set of weather and climate conditions that are so extreme under which there's not a whole lot that even very well-prepared places can do to manage the most extreme wildfire events,” CLA climate scientist Daniel Swain told LAist. “We're seeing the limits of what technology and preparedness can actually achieve in conditions like this."

Fennessy told the LA Times that the fire was being blown by such fierce winds, the structures in its path were even serving as fuel.

“You could have put a 10-lane freeway in front of that fire and it would not have slowed it one bit,” Fennessy said.

Officials throughout the week also noted that the gusts flung embers miles from the front lines.

In Northern California and the Sierra Nevada, decades of fire suppression have led to an accumulation of trees and brush, which often fuel large wildfires. Reducing this vegetation can enhance fire resilience and improve forest health by alleviating competition among plants for limited resources, Patrick T. Brown, co-director of the climate and energy team at the Breakthrough Institute told the Times.

Brown explained that removing brush — and thereby reducing available fuel — could decrease wildfire intensity in the Los Angeles Basin, even during extreme weather conditions. However, such measures would likely not have prevented the level of destruction caused by the Palisades Fire this week, he said.

The Palisades Fire ignited just after 10 a.m. on Tuesday near Temescal Ridge Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The fire quickly exploded to 200 acres in just over 10 minutes, fanned by 80 mph winds. Since then, at least eight people have been confirmed dead, with many more still missing.

On Monday, the Southland is preparing for the return of a similar windstorm as the Palisades Fire continues to roar.

“The National Weather Service is predicting close-to hurricane-force winds, so we’re making urgent preparations,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said at a Monday news conference.

READ MORE: SoCal Braces For Extremely Dangerous, Hurricane-Force Winds Amid Fires