The Palisades fire, along with a number of other fires in the Los Angeles area have been taking a toll over the past few days. As of now, about 7000 structures have been damaged or destroyed and at least 10 deaths have occurred.
Considering the level of devastation that has taken place as a result of these fires, you would think that people would be pulling together and starting to help each other out. According to some reports, however, residents are now intentionally setting fires just a few miles away and the public is infuriated.
Many of the largest fires are at 0% containment and tens of thousands of acres have been destroyed as a result. Many famous actors have lost their homes, including John Goodman in Paris Hilton but it has also taken the homes of thousands of others as well.
Recently, Andrew Huberman, a professor of neurobiology and Ophthalmology at Stanford Medicine posted a video on Twitter about people lighting fires in urban areas of LA that have not yet been affected.
He said: “People are lighting fires in otherwise non-burning urban areas of LA. Saw this happen first hand at 302 Pico in Santa Monica. Called it in & fire dept & police responded. Stay safe and call in any activity ASAP. We don’t need more flames out here.”
People are lighting fires in otherwise non-burning urban areas of LA. Saw this happen first hand at 302 Pico in Santa Monica. Called it in & fire dept & police responded. Stay safe and call in any activity ASAP. We don’t need more flames out here. pic.twitter.com/AZ4GLr6N3q
— Andrew D. Huberman, Ph.D. (@hubermanlab) January 9, 2025
Many people came on to comment about what they were seeing, including Elon Musk who simply commented: “Wow”.
Someone else had an idea about using water from the Pacific Ocean. They said: “Is there any particular reason why we can’t use ocean water to help put out the fires?”
It should be noted that there is a difference between fresh water and salt water. Fresh water would be the preferred choice. According to technology.org, salt is corrosive. The ocean may help to put out the fire but putting it in water tanks and having it come in contact with other equipment for firefighting can cause damage.
In other words, it may not be available in the future due to that damage. It is also bad for the ecosystem to spray saltwater on land.
