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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.
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.
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.
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.