"Like a war zone": Pilot describes harrowing flights over Pacific Palisades

Record ID: 1902273

  • Title: "Like a war zone": Pilot describes harrowing flights over Pacific Palisades
  • Date: 18th January 2025
  • Summary: CAMARILLO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 16, 2025) (REUTERS) HELICOPTER LANDING NESR ROW OF CALFIRE HELICOPTERS VARIOUS OF CALFIRE CREW WALKING NEAR HELICOPTERS CALFIRE FORESTRY FIRE PILOT TIMOTHY THOMAS WITH CREW CALFIRE LOGO PATCH THOMAS SPEAKING WITH CREW (SOUNDBITE) (English) TIMOTHY THOMAS, 40, CALFIRE FORESTRY FIRE PILOT, SAYING: “My reaction to this fire was di
  • Embargoed: 1st February 2025 13:36
  • Keywords: CALFIRE CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES PALISADES FIRE PILOTS WILDFIRES
  • Location: VARIOUS
  • City: VARIOUS
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,North America,Wildfires/Forest Fires
  • Reuters ID: LVA002410617012025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: As Los Angeles residents ran away a horrific inferno in Pacific Palisades last week, Forestry Fire Pilot Timothy Thomas and his crew were flying towards it.
    Thomas described a “warzone” like scene from the sky as he flew over the fire zone during his initial orientation flight near Malibu last Wednesday (January 8). He said within the first 24-hour window, the damage was already visible as homes were completely engulfed in flames and he instantly recognized it was not a normal fire.
    “It was like a warzone on the ground. With the amount of destruction. So we knew that we were going to be busy. And compared to most of the fires we see in the season, this is on a scale of destruction to the urban center that we haven't seen.”
    Thomas told Reuters the dangerously high wind speeds and rapid rate of spread were two critical factors that made the fight from the sky more difficult, as the crew targeted water drops from above. And he said with urban firs, tough decisions have to be made.
    “With fires such as the Palisades fire, you have to make the hard choice of which house you're going to save and which house is lost. That is the hardest thing about these fires, and it's the hardest thing about the decision-making process,” he said.
    Thomas is among dozens of pilots from around the United States and Canada who rushed to Los Angeles to drop fire retardant and water on fires encircling the city, in a disaster that has claimed at least 25 lives and destroyed thousands of homes and entire neighborhoods.
    “I just I think I want to remind folks that this is something that when the cameras go away, and the news stories go away, we're still going to be out here fighting fire at day and night,” he said.
    (Production: Sandra Stojanovic, Jorge Garcia)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register