Listen to the LAFD-CERT team’s Alert CA communications (audio only) from Jan 7th starting at approximately 10:25am at the start of the Palisades fire.
This is a representative “screen grab” from the website WIFIRE of the cameras in the area:
The primary source that is used for fire monitoring is Alert California. Click on “View Live Feeds.” There is a “Layers” icon which you can toggle on/off different views.
Another source is WiFire Firemap. To bring up the maps from Firemap on your computer/device, go to: https://firemap.sdsc.edu/ As you can see in the upper right corner is the icon for the layers, where you can bring up a list of layers which can be toggled on and off. The screen grab (to the left) is the layers “ON” for the above map.
This is what LAFD CERT Call-Out member John Gilbert wrote about this task:
Another thing the LAFD-CERT team does for the Fire Dept is monitor the Alert CA cameras that are positioned in and around the hills and valleys of the city. I am the coordinator of that team and report directly to our Captain 2 Sonny Marcione. During the Palisades Fire we still had a red flag event happening and other fires breaking out in different areas of the city. So the CERT team watched and logged and called in multiple fires that we spotted as first eyes on. A few of us have privileges and are authorized to move the cameras granted by the LAFD, so we position the cameras so LAFD Metro Fire can bring up the camera on their screen at Metro and monitor the fire’s progress. They then use the smoke direction as well as the angle of the smoke to do evacuation projections into the future. This team has been up since Covid protocols were in place.
These pictures (see below) show the beginning of the Palisades Fire that we were monitoring as it started. (see above to hear the Alert comms audio) I think my name is visible on the bottom of one of the cameras at the beginning as I was dialing in the Wilshire 2 camera as well as the Temescal Camera. We were instrumental in seeing the start of the Kenneth Fire and were the first ones to call that in. That was done by our esteemed member Dan Tomlinson.
Click on any photo below to enlarge it in a new tab.
Screen photo of wind gust conditions in the LA area on 1/7/25.
Screen photo of views from multiple cameras on 1/7/25.
Screen grab at the start of the Palisades Fire shows the intersection of each camera’s direction indicating the location of the fire start.
John Gilbert is pointing on his monitor to where the fire is originating as the red lines (POV of the cameras) intersect.
Screen photo of the view from the Temescal camera of the Palisades Fire.
Screen photo of the view of the Wilshire 2 camera of the Palisades Fire.
