{"id":31035,"date":"2025-07-01T22:56:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T22:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/31035\/"},"modified":"2025-07-01T22:56:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T22:56:08","slug":"la-honors-army-corps-leader-for-palisades-fire-cleanup-daily-breeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/31035\/","title":{"rendered":"LA honors Army Corps leader for Palisades fire cleanup \u2013 Daily Breeze"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES \u2014 Nearly six months after the Palisades Fire devastated Pacific Palisades<\/a>, City Councilwoman Traci Park on Tuesday, July 1, honored Col. Eric Swenson for leading what officials called the \u201cfastest, safest and most community-integrated\u201d debris removal operation in the state\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

During a presentation in the Council Chambers at City Hall, Park said the Jan. 7 fire dramatically changed life for Pacific\u00a0Palisades\u00a0residents, killing 12 people and destroying 6,837 structures, including more than 5,400 homes, 135 multi-family buildings and 160 commercial properties.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that moment, it was hard to imagine how we would even begin to recover,\u201d said Park, who represents the 11th Council District, including Pacific\u00a0Palisades\u00a0and other coastal neighborhoods. \u201cBut then came the United States Army Corps of Engineers, led by Col. Eric Swenson.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Army Corps cleared fire debris in February from homes and other community sites, and also aided in the Eaton Fire cleanup in Altadena, another area destroyed by January\u2019s wildfires.<\/p>\n

\"USUS Army Corps of Engineers Col. Eric Swenson takes questions during a news conference discussing the continued wildfire cleanup efforts and preparations for the major rainstorm anticipated this week in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what really sets Col. Swenson apart, what earned him the love and respect of so many in the\u00a0Palisades\u00a0wasn\u2019t just how fast he got the work done. It was how he showed up,\u201d Park said.<\/p>\n

Park shared a special video message with Swenson and those in attendance. In the message, U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who serves as the 26th Secretary of the U.S. Army, thanked Swenson for his \u201coutstanding leadership\u201d and announced Swenson will be reassigned to command the Corps\u2019 North Atlantic Division.<\/p>\n

The North Atlantic Division is one of nine permanent divisions within the Corps, serving as headquarters for the Northeastern United States and Europe, with offices in Massachusetts, New York City and Wiesbaden, Germany, among other locations.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour team cleared debris, repaired infrastructure and restored essential services, but that\u2019s exactly what you trained for. What really sets you apart is the trust you built with the community,\u201d Driscoll said in his video message. \u201c\u2026Your approach says so much about the kind of person and leader you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur Corps of Engineers are often the first to engage devastated, recovering communities, and we need compassionate leaders like you. So, thank you, Col. Swenson. I wish you and your family all the best as you move to command the North Atlantic Division,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Swenson wiped away tears as he received praise from Park and other council members.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor those of you who know me, you know I\u2019m not usually short on words, and I gravitate toward the mic,\u201d Swenson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m honored to be here today. I\u2019m honored to be here in this community for the past going on five and half months. I\u2019ll miss L.A. You\u2019ve been through a lot, but the future is bright, and I hope to come back soon and watch the phoenix rise from the ashes.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: July 1, 2025 at 3:04 PM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2014 Nearly six months after the Palisades Fire devastated Pacific Palisades, City Councilwoman Traci Park on…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":31036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2961,224,5337,50,17254,52,5609],"class_list":{"0":"post-31035","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-losangeles","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-palisades-fire","15":"tag-top-stories","16":"tag-wildfires"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114780450651641846","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}