One year ago, just after midnight on New Year’s Eve, a small brush fire broke out in Topanga State Park above the Pacific Palisades outside Los Angeles. Within hours, the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) arrived on scene and began digging handlines to stop its spread. The eight-acre fire—ignited by a 29-year-old former Palisades resident, who has since been charged with arson—was quickly brought under control. By 4:46 a.m., the department declared it “fully contained,” with “no further updates anticipated.”
But the fire was never fully extinguished. A week later, on January 7, it reignited and burned more than 23,000 acres, destroyed 6,800 structures, and killed 12 people in what became L.A.’s worst urban wildfire catastrophe.
