By J.R. Stone, CNN
Burned-out cars and homes reduced to rubble by the Palisades Fire. Photo: AFP / Frederic J. Brown
A Pacific Palisades homeowner who watched his house burn on his Tesla cameras is now calling for better long-term fire planning amid the devastation in Southern California. The car was parked on the street in front of his house.
The Borow family of Pacific Palisades lost their home last week in the Palisades Fire.
James Borow's wife, Cristina may have been one of the first to see smoke. She then made her two daughter's schools aware, took the two out of school, and evacuated.
"That was at 10.30am. Tuesday and by 8.30pm. our house had burned to the ground," Borow said.
Perhaps hardest of all, Borow had just arrived at the CES tech conference in Las Vegas. As he worked to get home he turned on the cameras to his Tesla that was parked outside their home.
"I was able to remotely log in to my car and literally as I logged into it I saw a flame jump from one house into our side yard, and then garage, and burn down the whole house," he said.
Like many others in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Borow is angry. His family was dropped by State Farm insurance weeks ago, and despite living near a fire station, his house and others on the block burned.
"There's literally a fire station three blocks from our house and fire trucks didn't come to our house, obviously there are things that could have been last lines of defense but there was no first lines of defense," Borow said.
Working fire hydrants were an issue and USC professor Costas Synolakis says until water pressure can be accurately monitored city-wide, it should be tested annually.
"This is the kind of thing, I mean you can spend a lot of time on calculations but unless people go out there, and it's not that difficult to test it, you can test these things ya know once a year to make sure you are prepared," Synolakis said.
Firefighters work to put out flames in the Mandeville Canyon neighbourhood of Los Angeles, California, on 11 January 2025, as the Palisades Fire continues to burn. Photo: AFP / Agustin Paullier
Borow said it's the water issue, lack of warning systems, and lack of information that anger him.
"It's beyond this being a high-fire zone it was a series of compounding mistakes that have gotten to a point that is beyond comprehension," Borow said.
Synolakis said, this isn't just a Los Angeles problem.
"I think going forward we need to work better at all levels, at the state level, at the local level we need to encourage evacuation planning," Synolakis said. "We really need to work out all the glitches in the wireless emergency alert."
Borow's family is safe, but the situation is tough.
"My 5-year-old will go into fits of 'I just want to go home,' and I totally get it I do, but we have a suitcase of stuff so it's just crazy," he said.
Borow says he did sign up for "California Fair Plan Insurance" after his State Farm was dropped, but it doesn't cover nearly the amount that the other policy did. He did apply for FEMA assistance but was initially denied.
Congressman Brad Sherman posted on X Sunday saying, "there is a glitch in the FEMA website" and if you don't have a policy that fully covers you, you are still eligible for assistance.
- CNN
