Some NASA services hosted at JPL are now offline or nonoperational.
E.g. - DSN now and JPL Horizons.

The DSN Goldstone site in Barstow is probably OK.

The update from JPL at nasawatch.com/personnel-news/j… also stated that "Hundreds of JPLers have been evacuated from their homes & many have lost homes. Special thx to our emergency crews. Pls keep us in your thoughts & stay safe."
🙏

Pic below is from the Altadena area just east of JPL.
Credit: Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images
#Wildfire #JPL
2/n

The JPL Emergency Page at emergency.jpl.nasa.gov/ has additional info -

- JPL will remain closed until Monday, Jan 13
- All personnel are under mandatory telework with no Lab access except for designated personnel
- JPL facilities, labs and hardware are secured and protected.
- Deep Space Network (DSN) operations have been moved offsite to a back-up operations center.

3/n

The Wildland Fire Potential Index (WFPI) from the USGS forecasts the risk for large fire activity across the U.S.

It is a unit-less number that ranges from 0 to 150 and relates to vegetation flammability. It describes the ratio of live to dead fuel and includes variables for wind speed, dry bulb temperature, and rainfall.

The wildfires in the L.A. area are not unexpected. The WFPI values around L.A. are mostly in the red zone. The Santa Ana winds spread the fire.

firedanger.cr.usgs.gov/viewer/…
4/n

The wildfire situation around JPL looks very dire. This is a map of the wildfire in the area over the past 12 hours from the NASA FIRMS system. Note that there are a lot of residential areas underneath that red blob.

We are certainly not prepared for natural disasters like this. We will be even less so after the new fossil-fueled, ravenous billionaire infused, sociopathic administration takes over.

firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/m…
5/n

I hate posting videos of disasters. But I think people need to glimpse these to get a sense of the destruction and the human toll caused by these disasters, even though we may not have personally experienced them (yet). And the fact that these situations will only get worse unless we stop the billionaire class and the far-right from ravaging our dear earth.

This is CNN's Anderson Cooper reporting on the horrific scenes in the Altadena neighborhood east of JPL.

youtube.com/watch?v=L45PLpkfvg…
6/n

This is a mind-numbing satellite image from Maxar Technologies of the wildfire in Altadena, posted at CNN.

The hi-res composite image was taken at 10:45 a.m. PT by one of their LEO satellites and uses a mix of shortwave infrared and visible wavelengths. It shows nearly every building in western Altadena on fire 😢.

JPL is just to the west of the NW quadrant of this image.

cnn.com/weather/live-news/los-…
#Wildfire #Altadena #JPL
7/n

This article from 2021 about prison inmates, incl teenagers, used as firefighters will make your blood boil.

"The inexpensive labor of incarcerated firefighters is a critical part of CA’s plan to get through wildfire season, which has become, as a symptom of the climate crisis, an almost year-round concern.

Roughly 27% of the state’s firefighters were incarcerated in 2018 and 2019, earning mere dollars a day while free firefighters make an average $41.76 an hour."
😠
teenvogue.com/story/wildfire-c…
8/n

The Last Wildfire-Fighting Camp for Incarcerated Teens in California

Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp is the last wildfire-fighting camp for teenagers in California. Graduates say they’ve struggled to find jobs as firefighters.

^{Sara Tardiff (Teen Vogue)}

Here are devastating before-and-after satellite images from Maxar Technologies of a few blocks in Altaneda in visible light.

Now let's imagine what it looks and feels like at street level.
Imagine households with young children, infants, the elderly, the disabled.
Houses full of memories. All gone.

These are horrific tragedies, made all the worse by Climate Change and an unholy union of billionaires and a political party that seem hell bent on making this worse.

latimes.com/california/story/2…
9/n

The Eaton wildfire has reached the edge of the Mount Wilson Observatory area, north of Altadena 🙁

Power is out. The observatory website is down.

The site also hosts many towers for TV and radio transmission.

youtube.com/watch?v=Spo1lkghEY…
10/n

The map below shows the approx. location of the video camera at Mt. Wilson which is webcasting the video in the previous post. The camera is located high on a tower near the area with many TV towers. The smoke and small fires are located on the steep rightward slope.

The Mount Wilson observatory is further east and at a higher elevation.

google.com/maps/place/Mt.+Wils…
11/n

The various aircraft supporting the fight against wildfires in CA include two "Super Scooper" Canadair CL-415 aircraft lent by Canada.

The CL-415 can scoop up to 6,140 L of water from a lake or ocean, optionally mix it with a chemical foam, and drop it on a fire without having to return to base to refill its tanks.

The CL-415 needs a 12-second 410-metre-long run at 70 knots to scoop up the water and it requires considerable skill to fly.

youtube.com/watch?v=fuLk5hXMRZ…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadair…
12/n

Here is one of the "Super Scooper" Canadair CL-415 in action scooping up water off the coast near the Palisades.

One of the two aircraft is grounded after it suffered some damage in a collision with a drone. Canada is sending more.

youtube.com/watch?v=TLys5Wa7zh…
skiesmag.com/news/canada-sendi…
13/n

Canada sending more aircraft to fight California wildfires - Skies Mag

Alberta pledged to send waterbombers and night-vision helicopters, and additional CL-415 aircraft from Quebec are expected to arrive early next week.

^{Skies Mag}

The Paliades wildfire is creeping north and east threatening communities like Brentwood, Encino, UCLA and West L.A.

Current wind conditions are allowing firefighters (from across CA, 7 other states, Canada and Mexico) to make progress in slowing down the advance of the wildfires.

But the National Weather Service is forecasting heightened fire weather conditions later today and into next week.

firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/u…
cnn.com/weather/live-news/los-…
14/n

Map of evacuation zones around the Palisades wildfire. The mandatory evacuation zone now touches parts of I-405.

UCLA will hold classes online next week.

Gov. Newsom posted on X - "We will be doubling the California National Guard on the ground to help fight the Los Angeles fires and keep our communities safe.

We will now have 1,680 service members on the ground. We are grateful for their continued bravery and commitment to be of service to others."

latimes.com/wildfires-map/
15/n

Firefighters from Mexico arrive in LA.

The news is sure to make MAGA heads explode.

#Wildfires #California #Mexico
17/n

Gov. Gavin Newsom launched "a new site to ensure the public has access to fact-based data around the Southern CA wildfires".
I.e. to counter the conflagration of lies, CTs and accusations from MAGA leaders and their online supporters.

Let's keep doing our part.

gavinnewsom.com/california-fir…
#Wildfires #California #Newsom
18/n

California Fire Facts | Governor Gavin Newsom

Get the facts about the Los Angeles fires.

^{Rashida Tlaib for Congress}

Here is a clear culprit that heavily contributed to the wildfires in the LA area - heavy rains during the start of 2024 followed by a very dry spell for the rest of the year, leading to an abundance of dried vegetation.

cnn.com/weather/live-news/los-…
19/n

This is the "solution" from the far-right and their billionaire handlers to address climate change.

Voters - do not allow yourselves to be bamboozled by these self-serving merchants of hate and division.

#politics
20/n