In the calm before new fire warnings, SoCal emergency responders dig in for a ground war

It was a typical Sunday afternoon in walking their dogs, scores of people. Santa But eastern Malibu, authorities were preparing to Monica just rise up as wage with up fast and excessively a many Pacific dry are 5,677 fire and law enforcement ground people Coast winds personnel Israel and South Africa, said Dan war enjoying Highway were assigned Collins, the gusty winds on the in expected to public lead to further any beach, Pacific to the information flare-ups, Cal Fire "incident management team" stationed conflagrations having Palisades whip blaze, officer as in vehicles were lined up along miles that brunch and across including for some Beaumont, Malibu, of might and the workers the fear, ready alongside the blackened skeletons and a region from Palisades he to crumbling tan tents that marked a makeshift prime in Canada, fire. said assist. chimneys National activity ahead stretch coming If there Hundreds of Guard of the forecasted fire of days. is of beachfront encampment weather. sat framed by There coastline an emergency just In homes tall in additional response above one and palm the the particularly businesses. trees Palisades sandy surreal Dozens outside and beach scene, of the were a stately abuzz Guard entrance with Humvee to the Bel-Air Bay Club in Pacific Palisades. Fire trucks from as far afield as San Diego and Contra Costa counties were parked bumper-to-bumper along one stretch. Law enforcement cars cruised up and down PCH, lights flashing. And dozens of Southern California Edison trucks were lined up on the winding coastal highway. Other utility trucks were fanned out from Topanga Canyon to Sunset Boulevard, digging ditches to reach buried lines, mending damaged electrical equipment and otherwise attempting to fix as much damage as possible before wind speeds got too high. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service on Sunday issued the most extreme version of its red flag fire weather warning for much of Southern California, including burn areas in Malibu and Altadena. The "particularly dangerous situation" alert will take effect at noon Monday and continue until 10 a.m. Tuesday. Gusts of 50 to 70 mph are forecast for the coasts and valleys and 60 to 80 mph in the foothills, with isolated gusts of 100 mph. The warning comes as firefighters raced to increase containment of the Palisades and Eaton fires. As of Sunday, the Palisades fire, which has burned more than 23,700 acres and killed at least 10 people, was 52% contained, according to Cal Fire. The Eaton fire, which has charred more than 14,000 acres and killed at least 17 people, was 81% contained. Michelle Harrison and her husband lost their home in an unincorporated area of L.A. County just outside the city limits of Malibu when the Palisades fire erupted Jan. 7. Now, Harrison said Sunday, she feared for those who could face even more threatening weather in Malibu this week. "It's just tragic," she said. "I hope they have enough firefighters here, which I think they do now, to stop" any fires that might break out in the coming days.