Some wealthy Los Angeles homeowners have taken up arms to defend their blighted neighborhoods from looters.
Residents of Altadena, where fires destroyed more than 2,700 buildings, are patrolling the area and questioning strangers as they try to fend off criminals looking to take advantage of the chaos.
In some homes, residents have messages that read: “Owner armed and present.”
In Pacific Palisades, 53-year-old financial boss Ross Gerber sneaks past the police tape to check his house and walks around the neighborhood with his gun and other locals, questioning anyone they don’t recognize.
“I have no patience for any of them,” Gerber said The Wall Street Journal about edicts telling people to stay away from the burned houses. “If you survived this, you won’t care what they say.”
Gerber’s house still stands, but has no electricity or safe drinking water, so he and his family stay at the Ritz Carlton in Marina del Rey.
The president of an asset management company and some of his neighbors hired a private water truck and driver to sit outside their homes in case more fires broke out.
Attorney Aaron Lubeley, 53, told The Journal he is one of a handful of raiders in the area ready to defend remaining homes from more fires and looters as officials continue to tell people to stay away from the area.
Attorney Aaron Lubeley, 53, is one of the few left in his neighborhood ready to defend the remaining homes, even though his own home was destroyed
Lubeley reacts as he arrives at his burned home during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area of Los Angeles County
Lubeley’s Altadena home is seen before it was destroyed by the Los Angeles fires
“I could eat a Manhattan and a steak, but I couldn’t live with myself if I did that and my neighbor’s house collapsed,” said Lubeley, who has been sleeping in his SUV in front of his charred home.
In Pacific Palisades, 53-year-old finance boss Ross Gerber sneaks past police tape to check on his house
Amid the devastating fires that have left at least 25 dead, officials have charged more than 40 people with various crimes, including burglary.
Santa Monica police said officers apprehended 10 burglary suspects in the Palisades Fire evacuation zone and that six of those arrested were carrying “burglary tools.”
Three of the 10 burglary suspects have been photographed, including Joshua Kaliel Love – who was found with a dagger, window breaking tools, a mask, gloves, narcotics and a gold window punch, police said.
Dominic Pacheco Magana, 18, and Miguel Angel Dorantes, 22, are also charged with conspiracy to burglarize homes after they were stopped while driving a van with stolen license plate stickers.
Officers searched the vehicle and found black Nike nylon gloves, a black ski mask and three large cargo bags and black t-shirts.
The Watch Duty app was open on Pacheco’s phone. The app monitors fire and evacuation zones.
Gerber walked around his neighborhood with a gun and shared the above image
“I walked through checking the neighbors houses and walking through what was left of the Palisades letting people know their house was okay,” Gerber wrote alongside the images
‘Based on the items inside the vehicle, the location of the vehicle stop, the ski mask and the attempt to conceal their identity and avoid detection by removing the license plate, officers arrested the duo for being in the mandatory evacuation area found with the police. with specific intentions to commit residential burglaries,” police said.
Extremely dry weather conditions due to prolonged drought, dry vegetation and strong Santa Ana winds reaching up to 80 miles per hour in some areas this week created the “perfect storm” for the fires.
National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Hall said dry winds reached speeds of 60 mph in coastal and valley areas and 50 mph in the mountains Tuesday morning.
Wind gusts of up to 65mph were forecast to continue until Wednesday afternoon as firefighters struggle to control the infernos.
The Palisades fire, which had burned 23,700 acres as of 10 a.m. Tuesday, is only 17 percent contained.
Just north of Pasadena, the Eaton Fire has burned more than 40,000 acres and was only 35 percent contained as of 10 a.m. Tuesday.
The Hurst Fire north of San Fernando is nearly extinguished with 97 percent containment after destroying 2,000 acres.
A fourth major fire – the Auto Fire – broke out in Ventura on Tuesday. The latest inferno has destroyed 56 acres so far and is zero percent contained, according to the Cal Fire heat map.