Palisades Fire Reaches Full Containment

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

The Palisades fire, which first started at 10:02 p.m. on May 14 in a remote area off Michael Lane and Palisades Court, reached 100% containment by Wednesday afternoon, May 26, according to Los Angeles Fire Department Spokesperson Margaret Stewart.

“We are at roughly 95% containment and hopefully at 100% soon,” Deputy Chief and Commander of the West Bureau Armando Hogan told the Palisadian-Post Tuesday morning.

The fire was reported to be “progressing slowly” the first night, held by firefighters at approximately 15 acres. A flare-up within the incident, reported at 4:15 p.m. on Saturday, May 15, had the fire reaching 100 acres, according to LAFD Spokesperson Margaret Stewart.

Later that day, LAFD Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas said an additional burn area emerged north of the original fire, growing to about 750 acres within one hour.

At 12:50 p.m. on Sunday, May 16, Los Angeles County Fire Department reported the fire had reached 1,325 acres, a figure that was later decreased Tuesday morning due to “better mapping.” Its final acreage as of May 21 was reported to be 1,202.

“Due to firefighters’ relentless efforts, continual progress has been made,” a final incident update from LAFD on Friday, May 21, read. “The Incident Management team based at Will Rogers State Beach will demobilize today by 8 p.m. However, your Los Angeles firefighters will continue to patrol the fireline and ensure there are no flare-ups and that the fire remains inside the current burn footprint.”

The report also stated that LAFD would be performing suppression repair, as well as collaborating with California State Parks and environmental agencies to restore the fire roads and trails.

“The Incident Management team is pleased to state that no homes were damaged or destroyed, and no civilians were injured,” according to LAFD. “Additionally we rapidly determined the fire cause and detained the arson suspect within just 36 hours.”

One individual had been detained and released, but a second individual, later identified as Ramon Santos Rodriguez, was arrested. The LAFD Arson Counter Terrorism Section is leading the investigation, with assistance from LAPD.

Rodriguez was charged Tuesday, May 18, with one felony count each of arson of a structure or forest and arson during a state of emergency, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

“He pleaded not guilty and was ordered to be held in lieu of $350,000 bail while awaiting a June 1 hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to require him to stand trial,” according to City News Service Tuesday evening, May 18.

After spending time at the fire base camp at Will Rogers State Beach, LAPD Commanding Officer of the West Los Angeles Area Captain Jonathan Tom sent an email with key takeaways for Westside communities.

“As we saw from the Palisades fire, much of the brush in the Palisades has not burned for 50 to 70 years,” Tom wrote. “It is grown very tall and is extremely dry, which is why the Palisades fire burned so well in conditions that normally would have hampered its spread.”

For those who reside in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, Tom said to clear brush within 200 feet of any structure or building. When a resident receives a fire evacuation warning, it is time to gather necessities and have them ready by the door to allow for a swift exit if an evacuation order is given.

Tom explained that he provided the arson suspect’s description to the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness, which was then able to get the information out to its network.

“The collaboration with the community has never been more important than it is now,” Tom wrote. “We all need to work together and that partnership was evident in the capture of the person we believe to be our arson suspect.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated May 27 with additional information about containment.