LOS ANGELES COUNTY — The Eaton Fire above Altadena has destroyed more than 7,000 homes and structures since it started on Jan. 7.
The fire is one of eight fires that have wreaked havoc on Los Angeles County. The area has not had rain in almost eight months, making the hillsides extremely dry, CBS reports.
In an interview with “60 Minutes” on CBS, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Tony Marrone and Orange County Fire Chief Brian Fennessy gave a reality check on what it’s been like to face these destructive wildfires.
“Conditions that night were unbearable. It was a devil wind that came out,” Marrone told 60 minutes.
Marrone said the Santa Ana winds carried embers far ahead of the fire, causing the embers to travel downhill and into neighborhoods.
One critical issue that Marrone highlighted was the limitations of local infrastructure under such extreme conditions.
“The water system was stretched. Metropolitan water systems are not designed to sustain a firefight like this. Your viewers can’t expect a municipal water system to supply enough firefighter water to extinguish every one of these houses. That’s unrealistic,” Marrone said.
When asked if the department had enough resources, Marrone was firm.
“No. And there’s not enough fire engines for this,” he said.
“We think we’ve lost 8,000 structures, so times three fire engines each, that requires 26,000 fire engines,” Marrone continued. “I don’t think the state of California has 26,000 fire engines that could be at one place right now.”
Fennessy, who has been fighting wildfires for nearly five decades, dispatched hundreds of Orange County firefighters to help the fire attack as well as choppers from their fleet. However, the choppers were quickly grounded at first due to the strong winds.
Fennessy described the fire as “unstoppable.”
“We’re fixers. That is the mindset: We’re gonna put our lives on the line. We’re gonna, give a lot to save a lot. So when you have a fire like you say that’s unstoppable? Man, that is— it’s— it’s uncomfortable. It’s very uncomfortable,” Fennessey said.
Fennessey said after an unsettling 27-hour delay, the choppers were able to be put back in service.
During the interview with 60 Minutes, Fennessey shared a personal account of how the fires have affected him — stating that his brother had lost everything in the fire.
When Fennessey went to the block where his brother’s house once stood, he noticed a gas meter at the neighbor’s still-standing house was surrounded by flames. Without water nearby, he got creative.
“I ended up forcing entry into— through the front door and went through the house, you know into the kitchen looking for bottled water, anything that I could use. And so I ended up finding a carton of milk and, I think there were a couple beers or sodas, whatever the heck they were. And came out here and really literally had to kinda go in there under the heat, wet it, and then get out. Because it was just, this house was just burning and, and I had to do that a few times till it was done,” Fennessey explained, noting he has not put out a fire with milk and beer before.
That house and one other house in that neighborhood are the last two standing homes thanks to Fennessey.
“These fires are gonna be an impact, you know, to the community, families, people, for many, many years to come. This is one of those fires, if not the fire, that they’re gonna be telling their grandchildren about,” Fennessey said.
Investigators are still working to determine the cause of the fires that have killed more than 20 people, while the Santa Ana winds continue to challenge firefighters’ containment efforts.
