Watching the So Cal Firestorms
Can you imagine living in the path of a firestorm? The images coming in from all over Southern California are horrendous.
As some of you know, I am a California native, and worked for several years at KFI-AM 640 in Los Angeles before I came to FNC, and covered a lot of wildfires there, as well as in Northern California when I was at KFBK AM 1530. Let me tell you, there is nothing that gets your heart racing faster, than trying to outrun a fast moving fire, while doing live reporting. My hats go off to all of our staff working these out of control blazes for the last few days.
Casey Stegall, who has been in Malibu, fought to keep his balance in the raging Santa Ana winds yesterday, while wearing goggles so he could see because the debris in the air was so bad. Adam Housley got so close to the flames today to bring us all front line pictures, that it looked like he nearly caught fire himself (check out his blog). The camera crews and truck operators, also take enormous risks bringing us the stunning images that continue to take our breath away.
The perfect formula for these massive blazes mixed together days ago and continues to wreck havoc all over the Southland. Hot dry Santa Ana winds, low humidity, dry brush, all helping to fuel the fires. I can tell you from experience, that when you feel the Santa Ana winds, it’s like opening a red hot oven to check on something you’re cooking, then having a fan turn on full blast where the turkey would be. Add that to having flames all around you, and it feels like you must be in Hell.
In one of my assignments as a reporter for KFBK in Sacramento, I had the opportunity to be trained for a day as a firefighter to see what they go through. (obviously, it takes much more than a day to learn and train….) You can’t believe how heavy the equipment is.. how hard it is to remember to breath correctly through a mask, stay safe, battle a firefight, watch your team’s back, and so much more. Man, this was scary! After crawling around near the flames inside, then crawling out of the burning building, I thought for sure I was on fire because of how extreme the heat was.
As I tip my hat to my colleagues bringing us the story from the edge of the infernos, I do the same ….and then some, for the firefighters risking life and limb to save these people and their homes.
Here’s some photos of me during my training!
Laura Ingle has been with FNC since 2005, and was also a
correspondent for FOX’s syndicated news magazine program, “Geraldo
at Large.” Ingle has covered major criminal cases and natural
disasters, including the Scott Peterson and Michael Jackson
trials, wildfires, mudslides, and Hurricane Katrina. She most
recently covered Pope Benedict’s visit to New York and the
Manhattan crane collapse that killed seven. She was formerly a
radio reporter and news anchor with KFI-AM 640 in Los Angeles and
with KFBK-AM 1530 in her hometown of Sacramento. She is currently
based in New York.
Laura, my brother lives in San DIego County is the fire close to him? They are up in New England visiting so im curious to know Fire Fighters and the media are to be commanded for their work they do Its got to be hard and long hours . I ve personally never seena fire so i can only imagine how it is
I do not have access to TV at this time . How do they think fire got started and how much is under control at this time?
Laura,
Was there any warning about this fire before it became so dangerous? And like Jack, I’d like to know how it started.
Thank you so much for your comments, about the Southern California firestorm. All of us are concerned for the people who live there. Cathie, if your brother lives in San Diego County, I’m sure his neighborhood has been evacuated – he should definately touch base with someone if he’s out of town and find out what’s going on. Right now, it appears that some of the fires were set intentionally, others started from natural causes, or from a blown power transformer. Which leads me to the question of fire investigation. It’s an interesting subject, I hope to be able to bring to the air this week — in the meantime, some background for you.
Fire investigators follow the clues — burn patterns — to find the general origin of the fire. Using classic crime-scene investigation techniques like line-walking, in which investigators form a tight line and walk in patterns over the scene looking meticulously for clues from the ground up, evidence will eventually narrow down the point of origin. What investigators ultimately want to work with is a point of origin that is about 10 feet by 10 feet. The smaller the area, the better. After they’ve narrowed it down, investigators are getting down on their knees and sifting through dirt, ash, brush and everything else they can find that could possible house a match, a bottle of accelerant, a lighter, a footprint or a tire mark. Within this 100 square-foot (10-square-meter) area is where the cause of the fire will most likely be found. There will be a lot of this work going on in the days and weeks to come.
Hello Laura – Love ya, love your blog, and love ya on Fox News. Keep up the good work. Ron
it is heartbreaking to watch – but you cannot help watching those Firefighters and being incredulous at their bravery…
I have been watching this story and have been amased by the firefighters efforts under the situations that they are working in. I wonder why California seems to have a fire like this every year. In Florida we have a lot of prescription fires set by the forestry division of Florida. This keeps the amount of fuel that a fire has to burn to a much lower level. Does California have a program like this?
I miss your reporting on KFI and hope you’re doing well. It’s nice to see you’re still “covering” us!
Laura – I miss your reporting on KFI and hope you’re doing well in New York. Thank God for all the brave people out here who are risking their lives to save lives and homes. And for the reporters who are keeping us all informed.
Laura
Stay safe
Don’t know if you saw the video of the SD reporter broadcasting in from of his own burning home. Bu you can find it at San Diego TV Reporter Broadcasts From His Burning Home. Dramatic stuff!
Very sad reporting I must say, so hard to see.
Laura, my exposure to California, and its culture, has been fleeting to say the least. I first saw it for a matter of hours as we disembarked a plane and immediately boarded a troop ship bound for Vietnam in 1967. I never saw it again until 1969 … after my Vietnam tour … but while still in the Army. That visit too, lasted mere hours at LAX while changing planes .. ! Thus, most of what I know about California is from people who’ve lived there … or from media sources, or general education.
One thing we all know for sure is that certain geographical areas, especially around beautiful Southern California, are extremely prone to brush fires and mud-slides … as often witnessed in National News Headlines. With Santa Ana Winds often come the brush fires … and with
“El Nino” often comes soaking rain, flooding, and mud slides. But because of the natural beauty and rich cultural heritage of the area … the inhabitants always manage to survive, picking up the pieces as they go, then re-building what was lost. They always seem to tolerate material loss in order to maintain cultural identity.
Laura my brothers home is still ok he called a friend thats on alert in case because they have a dog home with people coming by to feed and walk it. They are a mess over the whole thing , i also have a brother in Boulevard, and a sister in Highway 79 in Warner Springs but we cant get in touch with them im a wreck over this its horrendous. Im not sure if the fire is near them also i also heard that al quida (sp) had something to do with these fires is that true? ty for responding to me also smiles
Laura, are there local charities accepting clothing/food/toy/toiletry items? Looking for an alternative to the obvious Red Cross, we would like to make an immediate difference to the people of Southern California affected by the fires. Stay safe
Chuck from Southwest VA was discussing how the folks in California were dealing with loss. It certainly will be interesting to read the comparisons between the speed of recovery from the fires in California to the speed of recovery from Hurricane Katrina in the Southern States.
Both disasters will have long term consequences on the regional economies. It is still eye opening that the Southern states are still struggling even after two years and billions of dollars have been spent to rebuild. Hopefully, the Southern California infrastructure will only be dented and not blown up like Louisiana’s was in Katrina.
Stories are already appearing about the differences in activities and support at Qualcomm Stadium and the Super Dome. Comments like “You either whine about it or deal with it” point out some regional differences in our nation. Thanks to your FNC team and affiliates for the great reports and human interest stories!