At this moment I'm sitting in West Maui, in the Kahana-Napili area, looking out at Molokai and Lanai while watching some video of the Pacific Palisades devastation. A one-minute driving clip on X is eerily reminiscent of a clip from a local friend who was authorized to drive through Lahaina after the August 8, 2023 fire that killed 101 people. A year and a half later one still cannot go into the center of Lahaina--Front Street. Another friend got close this week and saw that some rubble is just now being bulldozed and hauled away. In January of 2025. Hazmat. Insurance. Cell service. Coastal restrictions. Equipment. Cost. All will be in play in LA, too.
Oakland 1991 comes to mind. Paradise, CA. Chico. Several more in remote parts of the Sierra. It's on-going and fully predictable. Joe Rogan relayed an LA firefighter predicting the exact magnitude of the Palisades fire his podcast last July! I'm really hoping this old Voice post doesn't end up being another predictable concern come true.
And of course there is the air pollution of each blaze. The Merc notes:
Massive plumes from multiple fires in Los Angeles County are choking the region’s skies and sending air quality to dangerous levels. Thursday morning Los Angeles had an AQI of 182, considered “unhealthy,” and currently among the worst in the world. The smoke was so dense that it was captured in satellite photos.
Current forecasts through Saturday show most of the smoke from the wildfires wafting out into the ocean and making a weak return back to the coast as far north as Monterey.
Tell me again how ripping out a high-efficiency furnace/water heater and a gas stovetop that gets a half hour of use most weeks is really important, but actually planning and executing wildfire prevention just never seems to rise to the top of Big Politicians priority list?
Because politicians appear to spend most of their time running for re-election. They must feel their pursuit of so called "green goals" will elevate their "value". Common sense is thrown out the window, to appease our society snowflakes!
Posted by: Paloma Ave | January 09, 2025 at 05:51 PM
But but but what about sea level rise in 2050?
Posted by: Phinancier | January 09, 2025 at 07:37 PM
Just read this tonight:
"People - whether purposeful, reckless or simply careless responsible for 95% of California's wildfires".
Also State Farm had cancelled 69 % of their insurance policies in Pacific Palisades. Why??? The County of Los Angeles had suspended the clearing of brush around the outskirts of the city. State Farm cited "catastrophe exposure".
Posted by: Joanne Bennett | January 09, 2025 at 08:09 PM
And just like that the hole in the Ozone Layer disappeared?!
EVs, sea-level rise, global warming, porous borders, forever-wars are all money-laundering schemes.
Especially HSR.
Posted by: Peter Garrison | January 09, 2025 at 09:08 PM
Apparently the LA County Fire Department mistakenly issued an evacuation warning to the whole county's phones. That's 10 million people! Sounds very much like our tsunami warning of last month:
https://www.burlingamevoice.com/2024/12/the-tsunami-that-wasnt-lessons-learned.html#comments
It's only two data points, but it sure seems like training is lacking.
Not at our local Burlingame Neighborhood Network who just issued this invitation:
When the power was shut off or lines went down in Southern California, without television or internet, many residents did not know how to get critical information on the status of the fires to enable them to evacuate ahead of the fast-moving flames.
With that in mind, BNN is hosting an event on Saturday, February 8, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. to learn how to stay in touch with others during power outages and other emergencies. The free program called “How to Communicate During Emergencies” will be presented) at the Burlingame Community Center, 850 Burlingame Ave. Coffee and light refreshments will be served. There is no admission charge, but advance registration is required at Communicate.
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Everyone should get Zello on their phones and know how to use it.
Posted by: Joe | January 10, 2025 at 01:51 PM
The blame game will be running for a LONG time in LA and spill over into Sacramento--as it should. I'm not going to repost 99% of it, but this bit from Kira Davis on X is just too appropriate not to share:
Gavin Newsom: We're suing Huntington Beach to make sure they can't control their own local elections or their own local zoning.
Gavin Newsom: Dry hydrants in LA have nothing to do with me. It's the locals! This is up to them!
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Kira is "directly over the target" as B-17 navigators used to say in WWII.
Posted by: Joe | January 11, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Gavin, a precious piece of work, isn't he??
Posted by: Joanne Bennett | January 12, 2025 at 08:28 AM
'Going to be a long slog going forward. Our hearts are with you, SoCal. Say what you want about LA, but there IS (was) something magical about the atmosphere and lifestyle down there. I'm guessing that what arises from the ashes will look drastically different, seeing that Sacramento has decided zoning for single family homes is "racist".
Posted by: Jennifer Pfaff | January 12, 2025 at 05:29 PM
The City of Burlingame should be pressing Hillsborough to do some preventative clearing and clean-up. City and private properties should be included. The "it can't happen here" mindset is not correct.
Posted by: Phinancier | January 13, 2025 at 05:17 PM
The Santa Anas will be howling again tonight. It will be fun to watch the gymnastics involved in placing blame on a key important factor in the fires: contributing wind patterns...
For once, though, I agree with Phinancier. There is a tinder box in our own collective back yard. I'll bet my salary that nothing changes in that walled garden until a similar disaster occurs.
Posted by: Fugit All | January 13, 2025 at 07:46 PM
I suppose I should be glad some rando agrees with me if only I knew who the hell he was. Fugit. How did common sense become uncommon?
Posted by: Phinancier | January 14, 2025 at 11:14 PM
State Farm has cancelled their Super Bowl commercial. They read the room correctly. Whoever figured out to cancel those 1600 policies in July should get a big job with the city of LA.
Posted by: resident | January 16, 2025 at 03:53 PM
Here is an Op Ed from a guy at PRI that includes a bit brutal honesty: https://www.ocregister.com/2025/01/13/southern-california-wildfires-show-just-how-destructive-the-california-way-can-be/
He writes in part:
The California Way didn’t start the fires. But years of reckless policies and misplaced priorities advanced by Newsom, Bass and their allies have made containing the fires harder – and will make recovery and rebuilding more difficult.
It’s an agenda that brings us inadequate water infrastructure, improperly maintained forestland, bureaucratic red tape, investments in lesser priorities, and weakened public safety laws.
To be fair, Newsom has taken some good steps, such as issuing an executive order waving CEQA review and Coastal Commission permits for rebuilding.
But Southern Californians can’t help but think that he only acted decisively because his supporters in the bluest precincts were victimized. By comparison, no such relief was granted for Camp Fire victims. All they got were lectures about climate change.
The California Way is as much about attitude as it is policy – Newsom and state bureaucrats know better than Californians how they should live their lives.
Those living in wildfire-prone areas from Paradise to Pacific Palisades aren’t living as government thinks they should. After all, most live in single-family homes with big yards, cook with gas appliances, drive SUVs long distances, demand their kids are offered Algebra 1 in the eighth grade, and support strengthened retail theft laws – all in opposition to Newsom’s wishes.
If they lived the California Way as he envisions it, they’d be doing their part for equity and climate change by living in a small apartment in a dense high-rise, eating a vegan diet, riding their bikes or taking the bus, and giving up their daughter’s spot at UCLA in the name of fighting racism.
Posted by: Joe | January 16, 2025 at 04:40 PM
PRI, btw, which receives funding from Eli Lilly and therefore opposed capping insulin prices and CA plans to back generic insulin manufacturing... so while this guy writes about the cringe worthiness of Newsom going on the "Obama Bros" podcast, he was happily and handsomely paid by friends of the Pharma Bro. He knows cringe.
PRI promotes "the principles of individual freedom and personal responsibility." Does Anaya think wild-fire fighting should be privatized or would he also dial 911 if he saw flames advancing toward his McMansion?
Posted by: Fugit All | January 16, 2025 at 06:06 PM
We seem to be drifting quite far from an empty 117 million gallon reservoir in the neighborhood that the LAFD did not know was empty for months. Just sayin'
Posted by: Just Sayin' | January 16, 2025 at 08:13 PM
Here's Fugit with the perfect "if you can't counter the message, shoot the messenger" example. He misses badly. Also a complete non sequitur about Big Pharma and another about privatization that Nobody Is Talking About.
PRI's annual revenue for 2023 (last year available) was a measly $12M, so they aren't doing a very good job of being corrupted by Eli Lilly. That's lunch money for Soros.
Posted by: Joe | January 17, 2025 at 11:55 AM
In 2020, the California Legislature passed SB 182, which would have required that new housing developments in very high fire zones include various elements to better withstand wildfires.
SB 182 would have mandated design elements such as evacuation routes, vegetation management, and fire-safe construction.
It also would have required the regional housing needs allocation plan to further the objective of reducing development pressure within very high fire risk areas.
Guess who vetoed it?
In the September 30, 2020 letter explaining to the Senate why he did not sign, Newsom plainly admitted that fireproofing an existing community would not take precedence over his efforts to limit suburban sprawl and build more affordable (read tiny) housing. This "housing for all" mantra was the linchpin of his 2018 gubernatorial campaign.
Newsom further outlined in the veto letter: "Wildfire resilience must become a more consistent part of land use and development decisions. However, it must be done while meeting our housing needs."
Posted by: Man Up Burlingame | January 25, 2025 at 04:04 PM