What are the theories about the causes of the fires in Los Angeles that investigators are examining in their meticulous search?

That’s where investigators believe the deadly fire that destroyed so many homes in the area may have started.

A similar scene is unfolding across town, in northern Los Angeles.

Over there, The community of Altadena was devastated by a different fire that started in the San Gabriel Mountains.

Investigators at both locations are scouring canyons and trails, examining rocks, bottles, cans, any debris left behind that may contain clues to the still-unknown origins of these fires.

It’s the one thing distraught and devastated Los Angeles residents are desperate to know: How did these fires start?

Without answers, some residents of California – a fire-prone state – are filling in the gaps themselves.

They have been blamed on arsonists, power companies, or even a fire that occurred days earlier in Pacific Palisades that was put out but may have been reignited by the Santa Ana winds that blew at 80-100 mph last week. .

The researchers They examine all of those theories and more.

They are following dozens of leads in the hope that clues in spread patterns, surveillance footage and testimonies from early rescuers and witnesses can explain why Los Angeles witnessed two of the most destructive fires on Jan. 7. in American history, which have so far killed 27 people and destroyed more than 12,000 homes and businesses.

But solving this tragic mystery will take time, possibly up to a year.

“It’s too early,” Ginger Colbrun, spokesperson for the Los Angeles division of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), told the BBC.

“Everyone wants answers, we want answers, the community wants answers. They deserve an explanation. It’s just going to take time.”

The first trace of the Palisades Fire may have been seen by Kai Cranmore and his friends while hiking through Temescal Canyon, on a trail frequented by nature lovers and California marijuana smokers.

It’s not uncommon for visitors to bring alcohol and music, relaxing in nature next to Skull Rock, an iconic rock formation along the trail.

In a series of videos posted online, Cranmore and his friends are seen running through the canyon on the morning of January 7.

Their first videos show a small cloud of smoke rising from a hill as they make their way through rock formations and brush in a desperate escape.

Breathless, They say they smelled something burning before seeing the smoke rising.

In other videos, that small cloud becomes darker and then flames can be seen rising over the top of the hill.

“Dude, that’s right where we were,” one person exclaims in the video as flames rage in the distance. “We were literally there,” adds another.

Videos of the hikers are being examined as part of the official investigation into the origin of the Palisades fire, the ATF’s Colbrun confirmed, noting that it is just one of many potential leads and leads that have been sent to authorities.

“Investigators are talking to everyone,” he said.

Some online were quick to blame the group of hikers for the fire, pointing out how close they were to the fire when it broke out.

Even actor Rob Schneider in a publication asked his followers to help them identify them.

In interviews with US media, members of the hiking group noted how scared they were when people started attacking them online.

One of the young men said he deleted his social media accounts.

“It’s scary,” a member of the group told the LA Times. “Just knowing for sure that we didn’t do it, but then seeing how many people have different theories, it’s overwhelming.”

Colbrun indicated that the researchers They were also speaking with firefighters who responded days earlier to a fire that broke out near the same canyon.

One persistent theory holds that a small fire on Jan. 1 was never completely extinguished and reignited six days later when winds increased.

The Palisades Fire is believed to have broken out around 10:30 local time on January 7, but several hikers told US media that they had smelled smoke that morning while hiking the trail.

A security guard working near the trail told the BBC that he had seen smoke or dust in the area for several days.

The morning of the fire he was patrolling the neighborhood bordering the canyon and called the firefighters when a plume of smoke formed.

But Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone dismissed speculation that the two Palisades fires, nearly a week apart, could be related.

“I don’t believe it. Personally, I don’t believe it,” he told the BBC. “I think a week is too long to reactivate a fire that was not completely contained.”

He acknowledged that these types of incidents occur, but are rare.

While Fire Chief Marrone’s agency is not leading the investigation into the Palisades fire, he said investigators were also examining the possibility of arson.

“We had numerous fires in the Los Angeles County region almost simultaneously, which leads us to believe that these fires were intentionally set by a person,” Marrone said.

He adds that about half of the wildfires the agency typically responds to are intentionally set.

An electricity pole lights up (and a theory spreads)

Chief Marrone has been primarily focused on the other side of town, putting out the Eaton Fire that devastated much of Altadena.

It spread through entire neighborhoods, destroying blocks of businesses and killing at least 17 people.

The agency is working with Cal Fire, California’s state fire agency, to investigate the cause of that fire and where it started.

The Eaton Fire broke out shortly after sunset on Jan. 7, hours after firefighters were overwhelmed in the Palisades.

Jeffrey Ku captured what could be some of the first images of the fire.

A door camera in his house captured the moment his wife took him out of there.

“Honey, I need you to come here right now,” she tells him as her hair blows in the strong winds. “We have a very big problem.”

“Oh no!” Ku can be heard saying as bright orange flames light up the sky.

At that time, the fire was still small. It burned under a large metal tower on the mountainside.

In a series of videos, Ku documented how quickly it spread; Each update conveyed more concern in his voice as he and his wife packed what they could to leave.

“Please God, please God, save us, save our house. Please God, please,” he says in one of them, while the entire sky glows orange. Sirens echo around them.

The large metal utility tower near Ku’s house It is now the focus of fire investigators.

Utility providers have been blamed in the past for some of California’s worst fires, including the 2018 Camp Fire that killed 85 people and destroyed the town of Paradise.

In 2019, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) reached a $13.5 billion settlement with victims of the Camp Fire and other wildfires in the state.

In the week since the Eaton fire, at least five lawsuits have already been filed against Southern California Edison, the energy provider that operates the tower near Ku’s home.

The company says that He has not found any evidence that his team was responsible for the fire and is reviewing the lawsuits.

In a statement, it said its preliminary analysis of the transmission lines through the canyon showed that “there were no outages or operational/electrical anomalies in the 12 hours prior to the reported fire start time until more than an hour after the reported time of start of the fire”.

Additionally, the company stated that its distribution lines west of Eaton Canyon “were disconnected well before the start time of the fire,” as part of its fire safety shutdown program.

Chief Marrone told the BBC that investigators were looking at all possibilities, including that the tower could have been the site of a fire, meaning the initial fire could have started elsewhere but then spread. to the tower with flying embers.

He explained that the tower where the fire was detected is not like those seen in the neighborhoods.

It’s not a wooden pole with a small transformer that can easily explode or has thin wires, it’s a huge metal transmission tower with power lines as thick as your fist.

These types of high-voltage lines are not usually the cause of fires because they are computerized, he explained, and the system automatically turns off the power when there is a problem.

However, he noted that investigators were looking into whether Southern California Edison’s systems were working properly that night and turned off the power.

Cal Fire warned about finding those responsible so early in the investigation.

“We want to make sure we’re not pointing anyone in any direction because we’ve seen what happens when someone is falsely accused,” Gerry Magaña, Cal Fire’s deputy director of operations, told the BBC.

With additional reporting by Hannah Green and Emma Pengelly

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