A program to protect a plant called Braunton’s milkvetch (scientific name Astragalus brauntonii) may have had an effect on fire safety in the exact same area where the Palisades fire started.

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Posted on 01/15/2025 2:49:49 AM PST by grundle

This is from the New York Times:

Original: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/13/us/palisades-fire-cause-ignition-point-site.html

Archive: https://archive.ph/Fv8d4

This Is Where the Palisades Fire Started

In the hills above Pacific Palisades, there is crime scene tape and scattered debris, clues to what may have caused the initial fire that eventually raged through thousands of structures.

By Thomas Fuller, Mike Baker, Blacki Migliozzi, K.K. Rebecca Lai, and Jonathan Wolfe

January 13, 2025

Along the trail near where the Palisades fire began, The Times found bits of power-line debris, including what appeared to be part of a lightning arrester device. But the nearest overhead power line was about a third of a mile to the north. That line, which curves down from the trail and into the neighborhood,was extensively damaged from fire, but witness photographs show it was still intact soon after the fire began.

The poles along that route have a tumultuous recent history. Many of them date from the 1930s, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power initiated a project in 2019 to replace some of them with stronger metal structures.

The project stalled after environmental regulators said the department had damaged 183 small bushes known as Braunton’s milkvetch, an endangered species.

The department agreed in 2020 to pay a fine, and won approval to resume work, saying the project was “essential in regards to our wildfire mitigation plan.” But the project does not appear to have proceeded.

The Times’s review of the ridgetop showed many damaged and fallen utility poles along the trail heading north — an area that was consumed by fire, but not until a day after the blaze began.

And here is the wikipedia article on that plant species:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astragalus_brauntonii

As a person with an amateur interest in the subject of risk analysis, I find this to to be quite fascinating.

It’s typical for most government policies to have both benefits and risks.

When we consider adopting a new government policy, it’s wise to take into account both the benefits and the risks.

This specific issue is something that may end up being taught in various college courses in the future.

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1 posted on 01/15/2025 2:49:49 AM PST by grundle

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