The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station was among the stations that were immediately called upon to help with the Palisades Fire response on the day the fire broke out.
Deputy Justin Flanagan was a part of the response that was sent to Malibu, and he said he had never seen a wildfire like the Palisades Fire.
“I have been deployed to fires in the past and dealt with our local fires, like the Tick Fire,” said Flanagan. “But responding to where the (Palisades) Fire is actively taking out residences while we were there due to the high winds, that was definitely a new experience.”
He said that, when he got to Malibu, he saw helicopters moving quickly attempting to put out the flames, but the high winds were aiding the fire and spread it faster than the resources could handle.
The 50 to 80 mph winds were carrying the embers and starting new fires faster than they could be put out, Flanagan said. He thought the houses by the beach would be safe with the ocean so close to them, but the embers and wind caught them, too.
Numerous deputies were out alongside the local firefighters as they were tackling the fire, he said.
“We were just going through the neighborhoods when we would see a front yard on fire, we would grab their water hose and try putting it out as fast as we could,” said Flanagan. “There were trash cans on fire going down the street 50 miles an hour. It was a pretty intense situation.”
He added that smaller fire trucks were joining the deputies in trying to save houses while the bigger engines tried to extinguish the brush flames.
On top of deputies trying to help extinguish lawn fires, they were evacuating residents from their homes. Flanagan said they had residents who were refusing to leave until the very last minute when danger was imminent, and they had to go back in and get them out as quickly as possible.

He said that even if residents had refused to leave, deputies would still stay in the neighborhood and wait until the fire was so close to them that they would have to evacuate.
“We would still be banging on doors and if there was a resident inside, we would tell them, ‘Hey, the fire is right here, we need to leave,’” said Flanagan. “There was this one residence where their front yard was on fire and we were telling them to leave and at first, they refused, then we had to carry their elderly mother out in a sheet to get them out fast enough to get them into a vehicle because the fire was taking over the area.”
When deputies or fire personnel are telling people it is time to evacuate, they’re doing it for safety reasons, Flanagan added. He said a lot of people said they wanted to stay in their house, but the reality is that things can be replaced, and people can’t.
In addition to assisting with evacuations, Flanagan said there were teams assigned to looter patrol once the fire had subsided.
He said his team caught a looter attempting to get into an evacuated neighborhood, saying he lived there, but when further questioned they discovered he was from Northridge and arrested him for being in the evacuation zone.
Deputy Robert Jensen, spokesman for the SCV station, said they frequently would see people attempting to get into evacuation centers or get close to the fire, but they don’t understand they are making first responders’ jobs harder.
“People thrive off seeing that destruction and it is such an impedance to emergency operations because a lot of those residential areas have streets that are so narrow,” said Jensen. “Deputies can’t get up there to evacuate and fire personnel can’t get up there to put out the fire.”
He added that this is why it is necessary to have the Sheriff’s Department respond and help during events like this, because deputies help with road closures and looter suppression.


He said the deputies assigned to help with looter suppression protect residents’ property before the homeowners return.
“A lot of time people think they can do whatever they want and that’s not the case at all. You would never post on your Instagram or the news, ‘Hey I’m going out of town and leaving my home unattended on this day,’ but essentially that’s what happens every time there’s a fire and we announce evacuation areas,” said Jensen.
Every day since the fire broke out a team has gone to the Palisades incident to rotate the deputies while still maintaining police presence in Santa Clarita.
It was apparent on day one that the Palisades fire would be destructive because of the weather, Flanagan said. Many stations from all over responded and worked their hardest to save what and who they could.
Flanagan added that, when deputies respond to fires, they typically work 16- to 18-hour days. “We’re not here for the glory. We’re just here to help.”