
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



<p>Four disastrous wildfires were still burning across Los Angeles and Ventura counties in southern California on Tuesday, but it’s not yet clear what started the fires—as government officials, lawyers and experts weigh theories like electrical issues, embers from older fires and arson.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>The Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire both broke out on Jan. 7 and grew to more than 23,000 and 14,000 acres, respectively, destroying thousands of structures and leading to more than 100,000 evacuations throughout Los Angeles.</p>



<p>Several smaller fires—including the Hurst Fire and Auto Fire, which were both still active as of Tuesday—broke out after the Palisades and Eaton fires, and led to more evacuations.</p>



<p>The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection shows the causes of all four active fires are still under investigation, leading to unanswered questions about what could have caused some of California’s most destructive wildfires.</p>



<p>Anonymous officials involved with the investigation into the origin of the Palisades Fire told the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-12/on-an-ocean-view-trail-questions-swirl-about-what-and-who-started-palisades-fire" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Los Angeles Times</a>&nbsp;it appears to have human origins, though they noted the investigation is ongoing.</p>



<p>Investigators are focusing on a “crime scene” area that sits above most of Los Angeles in a neighborhood with rocky bluffs and popular hiking trails as the potential ignition site of the Palisades Fire,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/13/us/palisades-fire-cause-ignition-point-site.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>&nbsp;reported.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-arson">Arson</h2>



<p>Dominic Choi, the assistant Los Angeles police chief, said Monday officials are investigating every angle and not ruling out arson as the cause of either of the major fires, but he added there is “no definitive determination that it is arson.” The theory has drawn public attention after a spate of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/weather/live-news/los-angeles-wildfires-palisades-eaton-california-01-14-25-hnk#cm5woa60c0005356oh3zuokrk" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">arson-related arrests</a>, including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2025/01/10/alleged-arsonist-arrested-in-los-angeles-amid-deadly-california-wildfires-kenneth/">one arrest</a>&nbsp;of a man who was allegedly seen lighting a fire near the smaller Kenneth Fire last week—though police later said there wasn’t probable cause to charge him with arson, and they can’t confirm any link between the arrestee and the fires. Some experts are skeptical of the theory. A former battalion chief for the Los Angeles Fire Department told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/weather/wildfires/are-arsonists-responsible-los-angeles-wildfires-rcna186949" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">NBC News</a>&nbsp;the area where the Palisades Fire began is “inaccessible, rugged terrain,” that typically wouldn’t draw an arsonist. Experts also told NBC natural causes are a more plausible theory because of the heavy wind conditions: “Most of the time, these fires are not arson … There is no data supporting winds bringing out arsonists,” a former detective with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Office said. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/fire-prevention-education-mitigation/wildfire-investigation#arson" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">National Interagency Fire Center</a>&nbsp;says arson may account for more than 20% of human-caused wildland fires, but the actual number is unclear as arson fires may be misclassified for some time.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="704" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2193935251.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64348" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2193935251.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2193935251-300x206.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2193935251-768x528.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong><em> (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)</em></strong></figcaption></figure></div>


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-power-lines-and-electric-infrastructure">Power Lines And Electric Infrastructure</h2>



<p>Multiple residents of Altadena sued Southern California Edison on Monday, alleging the Eaton Fire was started by the company’s electrical equipment. The lawsuits cite&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/13/us/southern-california-edison-la-fires-lawsuit.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">eyewitness reports</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/13/business/edison-power-company-lawsuit-eaton-fire/index.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">of sparking power lines</a>. The company has pushed back against the theory, saying in a&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.edison.com/releases/edison-international-provides-latest-update-on-southern-california-wildfires-and-sce-power-outages" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">statement</a>&nbsp;Sunday its “analysis shows no interruptions or operational/electrical anomalies in the 12 hours prior to the fire’s reported start time until more than one hour after the reported start time of the fire.” One of the filed complaints&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-wildfires-eaton-cause-utility-fireworks-eb0f4f71e437f1ba692f929e9633c856" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reportedly</a>&nbsp;alleged, “there is clear evidence from video footage, photographs, and witness accounts that the fire was caused by electrical equipment operated by Defendants Edison International and Southern California Edison.” Power infrastructure has been a leading cause of fires in California in the past—with eight of the state’s 20 most destructive fires having power-related causes—and the amount of fires started by equipment has grown recently,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/01/13/us/los-angeles-fires-cause.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>&nbsp;reported.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-old-embers-or-fireworks">Old Embers—or Fireworks</h2>



<p>Some experts and residents believe the Palisades Fire may have been started by the remnants of a fire from New Year’s Day that began after fireworks were set off. The Jan. 1 fire broke out in the same place as the Palisades Fire and burned about three to four acres before fire officials said it was contained about five hours later, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-wildfires-eaton-cause-utility-fireworks-eb0f4f71e437f1ba692f929e9633c856" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Associated Press</a>&nbsp;reported. Michael Gollner, a fire scientist and University of California at Berkeley professor,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2025/01/12/palisades-fire-origin-new-years-eve-fire/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">told The Washington Post</a>&nbsp;“it’s certainly possible that something from that previous fire, within a week, had rekindled and caused the ignition” of the Palisades Fire. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed the department does not typically patrol past fire sites for still burning embers. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/13/us/palisades-fire-cause-ignition-point-site.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">New York Times notes</a>&nbsp;a number of past major fires were determined to be started by old blazes that officials believed were put out, including the 2023 wildfire in Maui that killed 102 people and a deadly 1991 firestorm in northern California.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-other-human-causes">Other Human Causes</h2>



<p>Cal Fire said 95% of California&#8217;s past wildfires have been caused by humans, but the agency noted human causes range from intentional arson to accidental situations, like campfires or discarded cigarette butts,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/weather/live-news/los-angeles-wildfires-palisades-eaton-california-01-14-25-hnk?t=1736873475204" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">CNN</a>&nbsp;reported.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lightning">Lightning</h2>



<p>Officials were able to rule out lightning as a potential cause for the Palisades or Eaton fires as the area didn’t have stormy weather in the week the fires began,&nbsp;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ignited-deadly-california-wildfires-investigators-array-possibilities-117539585" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">ABC News</a>&nbsp;reported on Jan. 9. Lightning is a common cause of wildfires, though, and led to 174 wildfires in southern California in 2023, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/statistics/lightning-caused" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">National Interagency Fire Center</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-many-other-fires-were-there-in-los-angeles">How Many Other Fires Were There In Los Angeles?</h2>



<p>In addition to four active wildfires in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, there were at least four other fires that are now contained, including the Sunset Fire that burned through the Hollywood Hills and Runyon Canyon, the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills Area, the Lidia Fire in the Angeles National Forest and the Woodley Fire.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">What To Watch For</h2>



<p>More information from investigators. The process to identify the cause of a fire begins with pinpointing the fire’s starting point, then investigators will usually search the scene on their hands and knees looking for clues to what could have started it, which could take days,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/weather/wildfires/are-arsonists-responsible-los-angeles-wildfires-rcna186949" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">NBC News</a>&nbsp;reported. If they find evidence it was started by a person, investigators must then determine whether it was intentional arson or accidental negligence, but NBC reported that process could take months or years.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



<p>Whatever the cause of the fires, experts seem to agree the conditions for the fires to spread easily were worsened by climate change. The California Air Resources Board&nbsp;<a href="https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/wildfires-climate-change" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">said</a>&nbsp;the area burned by wildfires in the state has been increasing each year since 1950, and unusually warm temperatures combined with very low precipitation create “conditions for extreme, high severity wildfires that spread rapidly.” Last summer was particularly hot in California and across the West, while there was very little rainfall: The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0ewe4p9128o" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">BBC</a>&nbsp;reported downtown Los Angeles has gotten just 0.16 inches of rain since October.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">Further Reading</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2025/01/14/california-wildfire-live-updates-new-auto-fire-breaks-out-in-ventura-county-as-particularly-dangerous-situation-red-flag-warning-goes-into-effect/">California Wildfire Live Updates: New ‘Auto Fire’ Breaks Out</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/weather/wildfires/are-arsonists-responsible-los-angeles-wildfires-rcna186949" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Are arsonists responsible for the Los Angeles wildfires?</a>&nbsp;(NBC News)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0ewe4p9128o" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Climate change: What role is it playing in the California fires</a>&nbsp;(BBC)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-12/on-an-ocean-view-trail-questions-swirl-about-what-and-who-started-palisades-fire" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">What sparked the Palisades fire? A beloved hiking trail may hold the grim answers</a>&nbsp;(Los Angeles Times)</p>


Death toll rises to 25 amid new Los Angeles warnings

What Sparked The California Wildfires? Experts Consider Power Lines, Fireworks—And Arson

<p>Failure is a word that apparently means different things to different people. Most entrepreneurs have experienced failure at some point in their lives; it is the successful ones that have the resilience required to bounce back.</p>
<p>There are two amazing stories of resilience that come to my mind. The first is a story of Tim Westergren, the founder of Pandora Radio in California. Pandora was started with an initial cash injection of $2 million in 2000, but it went bankrupt in 2001.</p>
<p>Incredibly, the 50 employees at Pandora stayed with the radio station, after Westergren asked them to continue without a salary. For two years, Westergren met 347 prospective investors who did not support him.</p>
<p>A ray of light eventually shone on Westergren as he presented his business to the 348th potential investor who gave him $4 million. It was not the business model that caught the interest of the funder, but resilience and ability to convince people to commit to an idea without financial rewards. Today, Pandora is prosperous and listed on the New York Stock Exchange with a hefty market capitalization.</p>
<p>The next resilient entrepreneur is someone most would be familiar with: Walt Disney. He was fired by the Kansas City Star newspaper editor because “he lacked imagination and had no good ideas”.</p>
<p>Disney formed his first animation company, Laugh-O-Gram Films, which did not succeed after an important distribution partner had to shut down.</p>
<p>He went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland. Actually, the proposed park was rejected by the city of Anaheim on the grounds that it would only attract riffraff. The movies and the theme park in the United States are now hugely popular and profitable.</p>
<p>Failure can be either humiliating or a catalyst to set you on a path of improvement. It is well known that Silicon Valley embraces failure. In what is probably the most innovative part of the world, it is thought that in order to succeed quickly, you need to double your failure rate.</p>
<p>It couldn’t be further than the attitudes you can encounter in Africa. On our continent, when you fail, it is as if you are cursed and business associates desert you. This is the reason many African entrepreneurs go back to being employees instead of trying again. If failure is not embraced by those around you, simply change your outlook. Only your view of failure can determine your approach to it.</p>
<p>Africa needs to embrace those who tried and failed. They need to be given a second, third and fourth chance until they get it right. If they know they won’t be punished for trying, Africa’s pool of successful entrepreneurs will start to overflow.</p>
<p>Nelson Mandela once said, ‘It always seems impossible until it’s done’. We know that it can be done, because entrepreneurs have been bankrupt, only to return smarter and stronger.</p>
<p>There is one point, however, that is important to note. We need to be committed to building successful companies rather than being committed to an idea. Entrepreneurs can be blinded by their love of an idea, even if the market says otherwise.</p>
<p>If your goal is to succeed and change the world, you will move on to a business that works. It might mean that you have to change your business model, like American Express did when it switched from freight delivery to finance.</p>
<p>The failure of a company is not necessarily the failure of its founder, as they may succeed in something else. We need to stop confusing an experience with identity.</p>
<p>There is something about people who have repeatedly experienced failure. Once they get things right, their drive and vigilance make them remarkable. Steve Jobs, Arianna Huffington and Donald Trump are all examples of this.</p>
<p>An attitude of doing whatever it takes to be successful is crucial. Remember, barriers are only things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.</p>


conquer the fear  of failure

<p>“And the Oscar goes to&#8230;”.</p>
<p>Five little words that caused writer and director Bryan Buckley to draw a deep breath:</p>
<p>“When you hear those words&#8230; and you happen to be one of the five guys it could possibly go to, it is, in itself, a crazy thought. It simply just doesn’t seem real. All the films could have easily won that night. And mentally you know this going into the evening. If I didn’t think we had put everything we had into our film, perhaps I would have been disappointed in myself and thought about what we didn’t nail in the film when the winner [Curfew] was announced. But I knew this wasn’t the case. It just wasn’t our night,” says Buckley.</p>
<p><div id="attachment_1690" style="width: 209px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1690" class="size-medium wp-image-1690" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/162620158-199x300.jpg" alt="" width="199" height="300" /><p id="caption-attachment-1690" class="wp-caption-text">Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura with Harun and Ali Mohamed, on the red carpet</p></div></p>
<p>He was in Los Angeles, California, at the 85th Academy Awards, where he was nominated for best live action short for ASAD—a tale of refugees, in Somalia. Sitting nervously by his side were the two leads, 14-year-old Harun Mohamed and his 12-year-old brother Ali. The day had flown by, moments before they were walking the red carpet alongside the A-listers—including Ben Affleck, Daniel Day-Lewis and Ang Lee—and doing interviews.</p>
<p>“The BBC was the first to interview the boys. Harun stepped forward to the microphone and began to talk about his journey in English. How far he had come, had never been so apparent. He and Ali were constantly asked what celeb they wanted to meet the most at the ceremony. And without question Harun would say Jackie Chan and Ali would say Jean-Claude Van Damme,” says Buckley.</p>
<p>It was a journey that began with the filming of ASAD in Africa.</p>
<p>Buckley is the last person you would expect to make a film about Somalia. His business is big-budget Super Bowl (American football) commercials for a quarter of a billion dollars with an audience of more than a million. Conversations with Somali refugees motivated him to create the short film with little commercial value or audience.</p>
<p>It all started in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, in 2010, where Buckley was shooting a documentary called No Autographs for the UN Human Right’s Council. He left with that feeling of hope in the face of despair. A year later he wrote ASAD.</p>
<p>The film was set in Somalia and shot in Cape Town. It tells the story of a young boy who must choose between life as a pirate or that of a humble fisherman. The entire cast was made up of refugees who had fled to South Africa.</p>
<p>Buckley says the biggest problem in producing the 18-minute short-film was overcoming the language barrier as both leads, Harun and Ali, were illiterate.</p>
<p>“We knew language, with the whole cast, was going to be a barrier by virtue that we were doing the entire film in Somali and I didn’t speak a single word of it. Right off the bat we enlisted in two Somali translators [who helped the boys memorize the script]&#8230; Both the boys are exceedingly bright. They picked up on things so quickly it was crazy. And then I’d act out some stuff and they would study it and follow. Always bringing their own twist. of course, like any Hollywood star would.”</p>
<p>The filming was taxing and Buckley struggled to shoot scenes with the rebels.</p>
<p>“There was just so much emotion there between them [the rebels] and the boys. It was quite clear this wasn’t the first time these refugees had handled guns. I kept thinking what horrible ghosts were haunting them after every take. And how bizarre [it was that] our cameras were recording every second of this nightmare.”</p>
<p>The international acclaim came with praise from Somali musician K’naan.</p>
<p>“He is truly a man who has supported Somalia and its people’s plight more than anyone I know. He said, ‘ASAD is an important film. It makes human the inaccurate caricature of Somalia, showing real people, a community and life beyond a land of pirates and warlords,’” he says.</p>
<p>The film won numerous awards at various international film festivals, including the Tribeca Film Festival and San Jose Film Festival. The Academy Awards nomination was the cherry on top but the leads almost didn’t make their big moment in Hollywood.</p>
<p>“The fact that they [Harun and Ali] didn’t have travel documents and that they were Somali refugees did not help matters. ASAD’s producer Mino Jarjoura worked around the clock with [South African producer] Rafiq Samsodien to get the kids there. It took government officials from both the US and South Africa, along with UNHCR to pull off the task. And they did so, in dramatic and perfect timing.”</p>
<p>Regardless of the outcome the team celebrated making it to the Oscars with a toast. After the ceremony they attended the prestigious Governor’s Ball.</p>
<p>Buckley may have walked away empty-handed but he and his two young leads stood tall for one of Africa’s untold stories.</p>


Tag: California

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

What Sparked The California Wildfires? Experts Consider Power Lines, Fireworks—And Arson

conquer the fear of failure

From Mogadishu to Hollywood