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By 9:30 a.m. Pacific time Wednesday morning, Tracy Tutor was already on a flight from Dallas to Los Angeles, hoping her home would be safe when she arrived at her destination.
“I’m rushing home,” the Los Angeles star of Million Dollar Listing told Inman in an on-flight message. “Some may not be able to land ashore, but so many of our friends have lost their homes. We’re trying to get there as quickly as possible.”
Los Angeles County residents woke up Wednesday morning to about 3,000 acres of land burned by the Palisades Fire, which broke out early Tuesday in the Pacific Palisades region between the Santa Monica Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
In addition, four more fires had broken out in the county by Wednesday, and more than 80,000 people had been ordered to evacuate in two days. The containment rate for the large-scale fire this morning was 0%, and at least two people were confirmed dead by mid-morning.
Credit: Michael Noorman
The Los Angeles Fire Department said Wednesday that the blaze’s acreage has increased as wind gusts of up to 160 mph hamper efforts to fly aircraft over the blaze and drop retardant from above. It was expected that there would be a “significant increase”.
It is unclear how many buildings were damaged or destroyed by the fire, but the Los Angeles County Fire Chief said at least 1,000 buildings had been destroyed by Wednesday morning.
An unusually dry start to Southern California’s rainy season contributed to the fires, with Los Angeles having recorded just 0.01 inch of rain since early December. This lack of precipitation has made Los Angeles’ driest start to the Water Year (which begins October 1st) in at least 80 years.
January, typically the second wettest month of the year, has so far been dry. There is also no rain in the forecast for at least next week. If the forecast holds true, the county will be without rain until mid-January.
Michael Nourman was between Beverly Hills and downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday when he looked west toward Century City’s iconic skyscrapers, saw smoke billowing behind the towers, and saw a flash of smoke on his screen. He said the images that came to mind had flashbacks. Television during 9/11 when the Twin Towers went up in flames.
Credit: Michael Noorman
“It was literally like 9/11,” Noorman, president of Noorman & Associates, told Inman. “Obviously the building wasn’t on fire, just the angle.” [at which] Looking at the smoke in the background, I can tell you the fire was five miles away from the Century City building. That’s how big the smoke was. ”
Noorman said she already knows colleagues and friends whose homes have been destroyed by wildfires and has offered her home as a refuge to those in need. As of mid-morning Wednesday, he believed he and his family didn’t need to evacuate unless the situation changed significantly (he didn’t rule it out; he had packed just in case).
While some of Noorman’s clients wondered how the fires would affect their intentions to sell properties in nearby communities, Noorman said they still have no plans. I reassured them that they should be able to put the house up for sale on the street.
But even against the backdrop of recent challenges in Los Angeles’ real estate market, including low inventory, lack of affordability, mansion taxes and hurt homeowners insurance, Nourman said these wildfires are “the most I thought it could be something serious. [to happen yet] In a bad way. ”
“This is just devastating,” he said. “I think people will rebuild and things like that, but it’s going to take time.”
Kofi Narty of Real’s GLOBL RED said that since he is also outside the evacuation zone, he offered his clients and their families a place to stop and bring their pets if needed. Generally, he said, today is a day to make sure people are OK.
“There is incredible power in community, especially when it comes to community power,” Narty told Inman. “We encourage all of our team members and all of our real estate agents to reach out and check in on all of their clients and friends, because these are our communities.”
Even if people don’t feel like they can afford or are able to help, simply asking how someone is doing and showing that you care can make a big difference in someone’s day, Nartey said. spoke.
Local brokerage leaders like Mauricio Umansky of The Agency also took to social media to offer their support to the community. “This is so devastating[. M]We ourselves and our government agencies will do whatever we can,” Umansky wrote on Instagram Wednesday.
Agencies across the board similarly expressed concerns that the wildfires would exacerbate Los Angeles’ home insurance crisis, making it more difficult and expensive for homeowners to obtain wildfire insurance plan protection.
“If we learn from the past, one of the big challenges that emerged from the Woolsey fire was that [in 2018]For example, it was insurance,” Narty said. “Insurance has become tremendously difficult. It has become very difficult to insure real estate, hillside property, fire zone property. We have something called the California Fair Plan here. Yes, many families had to rely on enrolling in the California Fair Plan, which ensured that their homes were insured. [with basic fire insurance coverage]. However, that is the insurance amount. [premiums] — Insurance premiums have been high for a long time, and have gotten even higher since the fires in the area. ”
Local regulations regarding brush removal also caused confusion and created challenges for residents, Michelle Harrington of First Team Real Estate told Inman. Homeowners want to protect their homes by removing nearby bushes, and some plants are protected. It is not always easy to distinguish between what is allowed to be deleted and what is not. Different regulatory bodies can also appear to contradict each other, Harrington said.
“There is a conflict between fireproofing and environmental laws,” she said. “I was talking to one of my agents in Big Bear, and he obviously has a big problem with this, and he said it’s very complicated because county law, state law, and local law are all contradicting each other. She said, “There may be areas at the back of the house that are best cleared for added fire protection, but certain areas cannot be cleared for environmental reasons.” , complex and very difficult to understand.”
To prevent such tragedies, Naty said, the introduction of further technology to build fire-resistant homes in the future, as well as better and more affordable insurance for homeowners in areas prone to such disasters, will help prevent such tragedies. He said he wants action from local and federal governments to establish a contract.
“This is unprecedented,” Narty said. “Insurance companies are businesses, but really, we’re here to make sure that people have remedies when something like this happens. So we want insurance companies to just step up. We need to make sure that people have the means to stay insured when buying a home in these areas.”
The fires were still burning Wednesday, and it was unclear what the next few days would hold for residents in the Los Angeles area. This impact is sure to shake up the people who call the City of Angels home, and present untold challenges to overcome.
“I literally can’t imagine what it’s like to lose your home, the most intimate thing you own, where you raise your family, spend your time and sleep every day,” Noorman said. Ta.
Email Lillian Dickerson
