Six days before the start of one of the most destructive fires in Los Angeles history, a smaller New Year's Day blaze, in the very first hour of 2025, ignited in the same area. Now, officials are trying to determine whether the two might be connected.
Monday afternoon, units from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which is investigating the cause of the fire, and the Los Angeles Police Department arrived at a cul-de-sac near the Skull Rock trailhead in the Palisades. They quickly closed off the area with yellow caution tape.
"We're looking at every possibility, going down every rabbit hole, and examining video footage from residents in the area," said Ginger Colbrun, an ATF spokeswoman. Colbrun said the investigation would include looking at possible connections between the Palisades fire and the one on New Year's Day.
A Wall Street Journal analysis based on photos, videos, satellite images and interviews with residents shows that both wildfires originated near a trailhead leading to a network of paths in Temescal Ridge in the Santa Monica Mountains. Residents say the area is popular among hikers, dog walkers, bikers and young people who gather with friends and zip through the hills on e-bikes.
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