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January 10, 2025 - 10:00am
Santa Monica, California
Much of Los Angeles County remains under red flag warnings as a series of enormous wildfires, which began on Tuesday morning, continue to devastate the region. Although the exact cause of the fires remains officially “unknown” — a man has been arrested on suspicion of trying to light a fire in the Woodland Hills area — it is confirmed that the first blaze ignited in the hillside area near Pacific Palisades. This area, an upscale residential neighbourhood home to nearly 25,000 residents, has suffered catastrophic damage, with recent estimates indicating that as much as 75% of all structures and residences have been destroyed.
The fires have claimed the lives of at least 10 individuals so far, though officials warn that the death toll is likely to rise. More than 2,000 structures have been consumed by the flames, and at least 130,000 residents remain under evacuation orders. Experts caution that Los Angeles is far from clear of danger, with these fires potentially becoming the most costly wildfire disaster in American history.
There is no question that California’s environment played a role in the scale of the crisis. The Santa Ana winds are strong, dry winds that typically occur in Southern California in the autumn and winter months, driven by high-pressure systems which force air to flow downwards towards the low-pressure areas along the California coast. Santa Ana winds can reach speeds of 40-60 miles per hour, with gusts exceeding 100 miles per hour in certain areas, especially in canyons and passes. The combination of strong winds, dry air, and warm temperatures makes Santa Ana winds a significant contributor to wildfires since they can spread rapidly and make firefighting efforts extremely challenging. For this reason, red flag warnings had been in place nearly a week prior.
However, abject political leadership and failures in emergency preparedness should not be overlooked. Incredibly, clearing out the fire has been a near-impossible task because LA’s fire hydrants had run dry, an unthinkable event which no elected official has yet to provide a reasonable excuse for. Having an effective network of fire hydrants ensures that first responders can keep fires under control and protect both lives and property, yet reports of non-functioning or dry hydrants go back years, which bring into question the viability of Los Angeles’ emergency response systems and infrastructure.
This was made even more difficult by the fact that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who cut short her taxpayer-funded junket to Africa, decided to reduce the Fire Department’s budget by nearly $17.5 million earlier this year.
Under Mayor Bass, the city hovers on the edge of bankruptcy, fuelled by unsustainable pay raises across departments, reckless spending on ineffective homelessness initiatives, and a concerning surge in lawsuit settlements covering issues ranging from sewers and street vendors to federal housing funding. Unfortunately, cutting LAFD’s budget is a decision that she may come to regret. There is a growing movement of angry Angelenos demanding that she resign over her poor handling of the disaster.
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SubscribeTrudeau, Macron, Newsom all biting the dust! Shame we have to wait to get rid of the last wokester standing back here in Blighty.
I think Elon is assisting nicely with getting that process completed.
Fires are fought via preventive measures (such as controlled burns, firebreak zones), if you wait for fire suppression to prevent the fire from reaching populated areas the game is 90% lost.
The issue here is (or should be) the total failure of forest management by Newsom, which is something that is fully controlled by the state and not dependant on weather, climate change, power cuts or any other fluke incident.
Directing the conversation on how firefighters were unable to put out the fire deflects the blame from the governor & mayor who failed to plan and act when they should have.
Having lived in CA for 25 yearrs, this issue of poor forest management (amonst others) is nothing new and has been a major issue since the 80s. Conservation activists in conjunction with politicians have done a huge disservice to the state with no accountability. Eventually, the piper must be paid, and for what it’s worth, it it karmic to see the liberal elites in their exclusive coastal enclaves being put to the torch by their own green programs.
The malicious truth is that people there are living out the consequences of their policy and electoral choices. The explanation that the state “failed” to deploy proper preventive measures misses the point; the state actively avoided or banned such steps from happening. The state actively nurtured its growing vagrant and homeless community which is notorious for setting fires. The state actively hamstrings forest management efforts in deference to its enviro paymasters. And Newsom will continue being mentioned as a 2028 presidential candidate.
People are also required by law to reduce brush in their own property, something that is rarely enforced, even when neighbours call to complain.
Will Starmer take the knee to the arsonists?
Think of the Athenian oligarchs with even more disdain for their fellow citizens, and far fewer scruples.
“No water” captures the situation perfectly.
But Trump offered them water in 2020 and they took him to court over the issue of the smelt. This is fact.
And the cause of all the fires is….?
Start the discussion….
A quick google search claims 90% of wildfires are human caused.
Four separate wildfires in one city all starting on the same day..
You’d be surprised if this doesn’t irreparably damage Newsome even if the inevitable Congressional Inquiry to follow did conclude at some point in the future he didn’t have any specific role in key decisions that may have increased the risk. It may though actually help the Democrats. They need a strong mid West candidate for 24.
As regards the hydrants, I heard a problem was the pumping plants were threatened by the fire and were switched off to reduce their own fire risk. I didn’t follow this, but their location and fire protection may be a strategic weakness.
As regards elected officials being accountable for public catastrophe’s – we’ve a few of these back here in UK. For example the failure to do proper pandemic prep in pre-Covid NHS, whether that was way less ITU capacity than comparable countries or PPE etc. Tory Minister who took responsibility? They’d been in power for 10 years by then. (Newsome’s done 5yrs). Or perhaps the decision to decommission the Centrica ‘Rough’ national gas storage facility just a couple of years before Ukrainian War and gas supply probs. Again, and no surprise I’m sure, a short term Tory Minster decision for which no consequence.
I don’t disagree with your central thesis but the Rough facility closure is a poor example. That was actually a reasonable decision.
https://watt-logic.com/2022/08/08/re-opening-rough-gas-storage/
Its ongoing usable capacity was too small to make a meaningful difference: the failure was in not having a lot more storage.
The main problem is that American voters hate paying taxes and consistently elect politicians (like Trump) who promise to cut taxes. Therefore there is never enough money for public services. Then when these services collapse, the voters are filled with righteous outrage and look for scapegoats among the politicians who didn’t spend enough money on them.
A winter wildfire… Anyone care to explain that?
Where does Unherd get these writers from?
If you could read with a level of comprehension higher than a 5 year old you would find that it is actually explained in the article:
I suppose this won’t be an adequate enough explanation for you though, will it?
I want Champagne Socialist back.
This new character is worse
Richard, wilfdires are not dependent on season. The winter wildfires in California are well known. However, as in Greece and elsewhere, these fires are possibly arson started.
Please, let the contributor, whose obviously false name refers to an obsession with his own genitalia, writhe in a sea of willful ignorance.
The weirdest thing about this article is that It doesn’t say if the Governor and Mayor are Republicans or Democrats. And not knowing too much about USA politics I had to ask google.
They are both Democrats.
I am more and more convinced this rag called Unherd is just another Left supporting media outlet.
Another political disaster and show of incompetence from the Left and Unherd (stupid name) does what it can to deflect.
I am still waiting for any criticism of Starmer here in the Uk….
Anyone who takes a cursory interest in US politics knows that Newsome and Bass are Dems and that Newsome is Nancy Pelosi’s protege and that he hopes to run for President next time.
That group – those who take an interest – are the great majority of writers and posters here. And most of us despise the Left.
Your point?
“Tory Minister in sleaze scandal…”
Or
“Minister in sleaze scandal…:
That would actually require you not to know if the Tories or Labour are in govt.
Wake up
Why are you waiting when there’s no queue? There’s loads of articles that are critical of Starmer on this site.
Richard does raise a valid point, however poorly. It is obvious that Kalifornia has become a dangerous example of what woke, corrupt democrats can do to a state. it is also passing strange that in nearly all news articles when democrats are in trouble their party is not listed. When Republicans are in trouble, party affiliation is highlighted.
This is similar to the documented reluctance to list race or religion of criminals and terrorists if they are of certain races or religions.