The infernos that ripped through Los Angeles are likely the most destructive and damaging events anyone in the region has ever witnessed. To surpass the level of devastation would require something truly apocalyptic, with hundreds of thousands of residents forced to leave their homes and rebuild costs spiraling into the hundreds of billions.
Without a shadow of doubt, this has been a life-changing experience for everyone in Santa Monica and indeed Los Angeles County. Without the commitment and courage of Fire Departments across region – and a little bit of luck – residents of Santa Monica might be sharing a very different story.
“We knew there was a red Red Flag Warning and that's one thing, but what was forecast was something we've never seen before,” Santa Monica Fire Chief Matthew Hallock told the Daily Press.
“And so it was determined within our department to, what we call ‘Up Staff.’ In addition to all of our stations, we had extra crews to be here in the event that something were to happen. And it paid dividends, because we were immediately able to respond to the incident,”
Hallock said that as such, his crews were ready to go at a moment’s notice and once the incident began to unfold at about 10:30am, the seriousness of the situation was beginning to show itself. However, at the same time as responding to what’s called an “Immediate Need,” it was necessary to maintain cover to the city. Daily routines remained relatively normal at that point, people still get stuck in elevators or need medical assistance after all.
Taking his position at the command post near Sunset Blvd and the Pacific Coast Highway, it quickly became clear that this was no ordinary wildfire.
“That's when plans started to get put in place on the scale of what we're dealing with and the situation started to explode,” he said.
The command post was quickly moved up to Will Rogers where they could monitor the supply of resources and request additional support, plus of course closely watch how the weather was behaving. Hallock and firefighters from not just Santa Monica, but Orange County and all over Los Angeles were already pulling 24-hour shifts.
“The winds were nothing like I've ever seen in my entire fire service career. I've never seen wind like that that night,” he said, adding, “Everybody has just been through it, through the mixer. And those first few days, I can't even begin to describe what I witnessed and what I saw. Our folks from here in Santa Monica and all the other departments, their efforts have been nothing short of heroic.”
According to Hallock, fire departments from Texas, Utah, Oregon, Montana, Nevada, Wyoming and Arizona all selflessly came to the assistance of Los Angeles, plus of course Mexico and British Columbia.
As crowds of onlookers and evacuees gathered along the top of Adelaide Drive on that fateful Tuesday afternoon, it’s safe to say that many were wondering if the inferno would envelop Santa Monica. Both mandatory and evacuation warning notices were issued to different parts of the city and had the conditions varied just a little bit, the outcome would have been a far cry from what it was.
“It was close, oh, it was close,” Hallock said. “We were prepared to defend Santa Monica, not just with our resources that we already had out there, but we would draw everything from within the city. Culver City gave us equipment and staff and said, ‘Whatever you need, we're here for you,’ so we would have put up an extreme fight at that location.”
That location was San Vicente Blvd and this was where the Santa Monica Fire Department was going to make its stand. But, as Hallock explains, it’s not as simple as drawing a line in the sand. The high winds were carrying red hot embers that could very easily ignite any nearby vegetation, allowing the fire to spread rapidly.
“We can deal with the vegetation that's in place as the fire approaches, but the ‘ember casts’ a mile away are things that present such a conundrum for us, because that'll be a whole new start in an area that we're not ready to be at yet, or we're prepared to be at yet. So those are things that were a deep concern for us,” he said.
“That's why we took the precautions that we did, it was to ensure that it wasn't a panic-stricken or rushed evacuation, because we had to. As the saying goes, chance favors the prepared.”
But even now, as the threat of danger has seemingly passed, the effects of this once-in-a-generation disaster will be felt for decades to come. Not only do those who have suffered have to rebuild their lives, construction will be a logistical nightmare, there will be economic ramifications and the astounding courage shown by the crews of every fire department involved will also have consequences.
“That's a deep concern of mine,” Hallock said. “These people are consummate professionals and they are passionate about this job, but many were working for 36 hours or more fighting the fires non-stop. And that’s unusual, but in this instance they were having to go from one fire to another.
“I looked in their faces and I saw compassion, but I also saw fatigue and that worries me … I'm concerned about the long term effects of this. We are often exposed to toxins and we know that's part of this job, but I don't know how many structure fires the teams responded to and what they breathed in, because we're not typically wearing a breathing apparatus in a wildland setting,” Hallock said.
A major priority for Hallock is to make sure everyone gets properly tested and he pointed out that this conversation was taking place in the Dom Smith Memorial Room at Firestation 1. Smith was a firefighter from Santa Monica who died in 2023 from job-related cancer.
“They're here fighting for the community and families that they don't know, while their families at home are relying on them to come home and be there. So that's a very big concern of mine,” Hallock said, adding that all the burnt out cars, with oils and petroleum and rubber, plus plastics and so many other household items that produce toxic fumes when burned, were a genuine worry.
“To every department in the years to come, we will start to see what was inhaled, but it's the community as well and folks are going to want to go back into those devastated areas. And we want to be there, we want to provide them with a N95 mask and some gloves and anything we can to help them get into those areas so that they can potentially get some closure on this disaster,” said Hallock.
As we were talking, a gentleman arrived unexpectedly at the station with five giant trays of donuts that had been kindly donated by a nearby store and Hallock remarked that the outpouring of generosity and compassion from the residents of Santa Monica had been mind-blowing.
“The community has been amazing and their willingness to donate, whether it be money to the Red Cross or supplies. If you're able to do that, please do so through the city's website and donation centers. People are going to be in need for quite some time. And if we can keep that steady stream of donations to those charitable resources, I think that would be tremendous,” he said.
Along with clothing, Hallock says that wet wipes, masks, gloves and similar items would be extremely useful.
“And if you have nothing to donate, come by and say, ‘Hi’ or just say hello if you see a firefighter at the grocery store. It means a lot to these people,” Hallock said.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime event for all of us and I hope it's the last, you just never know – but not one of these people had so much as a second thought, it was, ‘All hands on deck,’ and they all knew what their job was and they did it phenomenally. Every one of them.”
scott.snowden@smdp.com
