20 years ago, I volunteered at a shelter for homeless families. Run by the Franciscan order of nuns, the shelter defined a “family” as a parent and a child. The shelter was always full. Most of the residents were there because of bad luck or bad decisions, but several times a year a family came to us because a fire wiped out their home and they had nothing.
Those people had my heart. One minute they had everything and the next, nothing.
The fires in Los Angeles resurrected these feelings for me. Fire is the ultimate equity – no matter whether you’re rich or poor, no matter your race or religion, fire devastates everyone. Besides the loss of life, there’s nothing as devastating to someone than to lose your home.
* * *
While the nation focuses on the California disaster, here are some recent headlines about Hurricane Helene flood survivors in North Carolina who are still suffering in the aftermath of a storm that hit in September:
FEMA kicks hurricane survivors out of temporary housing into snowstorm and freezing temperatures.
3K families to be kicked out of FEMA hotels in Carolinas amid snow storm
FEMA apologizes after failing to deliver promised trailers to Helene survivors in North Carolina
‘Nuff said.
* * *
Los Angeles
There have been hundreds of stories about the LA fires, but what was never clear to me was the timeline of what’s been done and what’s been said. So, here’s my summary of the bad and the ugly. There is no good:
February 2024: The 117-million-gallon Santa Ynes reservoir located near Pacific Palisades is emptied for repairs to its cover. To date those repairs have not started.
May 2024: Department of Water and Power (LADWP) hires CEO Janisse Quiñones at a salary of $750,000. Quiñones served as senior vice president at Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) from 2021 to 2023. The firm's liability for allegedly causing the 2018 Camp Fire and the 2021 Dixie Fire (the second-largest wildfire in California history) was estimated at $30 billion when it filed for bankruptcy in 2018. It exited bankruptcy in 2020.
October 2024: The LAFD made a request to the city's council to replace the entire fire truck fleet at the cost of $96.5 million. That request was not fulfilled.
December 6, 2024: In response to a $17.6 million budget cut, LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley wrote in a memo to Mayor Karen Bass: "The reduction...has severely limited the department's capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies, including wildfires."
January 3: The National Weather Service station in Los Angeles: “A Fire Weather Watch is in effect Tuesday-Friday for portions of Los Angeles/Ventura Counties. There is the potential for damaging north to northeast winds, that are likely to peak Tuesday-Wednesday.”1
January 4: The National Weather Service station in Los Angeles: “Fire Weather Watches & High Wind Watches are in effect Tuesday-Friday next week (see graphics for exact times). Strong/damaging N-NE winds will be possible, likely peaking Tuesday-Wednesday.”
January 4: Mayor Bass leaves for Ghana to attend the inauguration of their president.
January 5: The National Weather Service station in Los Angeles: “Widespread damaging winds and extreme fire weather conditions are expected Tuesday afternoon through at least Wednesday. Scattered downed trees and power outages are likely, in addition to rapid fire growth and extreme behavior with any fire starts.”2
January 6: The warnings from the National Weather Service station in Los Angeles become even more dire: “HEADS UP!!! A LIFE-THREATENING, DESTRUCTIVE, Widespread Windstorm is expected…”3
January 6: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass demanded her Fire Department make an extra $49 million of budget cuts.4 The extra cuts would have closed 16 fire stations.
January 7: The Palisades Fire starts at 10:30 A.M.
January 7: The Eaton Fire broke out in Altadena near Pasadena around 6:30 P.M.
January 7: The Hurst Fire ignited in Sylmar, in the San Fernando Valley northwest of downtown Los Angeles, around 10:30 P.M.
January 8, 3:00 A.M.: The fire hydrants in Pacific Palisades run dry.
January 8: Quiñones, head of the LADWP: “We have three large water tanks, about a million gallons each. We ran out of water in the first tank at about 4:45 P.M. yesterday. We ran out of water in the second tank about 8:30 P.M. and the third tank about 3 A.M…”
January 8: L.A. city officials blame ‘tremendous demand’ as fire hydrants run dry.
January 8, 12:00 P.M.: Mayor Karen Bass returns to Los Angeles.
January 9: President Joe Biden claimed that Los Angeles fire hydrants hadn't run dry because of a water shortage, but due to power being cut to water pumps because of the wildfires.
January 9: A 2019 video of LAFD Deputy Chief Kristine Larson for Equity and Human Rights Bureau (2023 salary: $447,979) surfaces in which she states: “’Is she strong enough to do that?’ Or, ‘You couldn’t carry my husband out of a fire.’ Which my response is, he got himself in the wrong place if I have to carry him out of a fire.”
January 10: Two men are said to have been caught on camera dumping gasoline and setting it alight immediately before the devastating Palisades fire broke out.
January 10: L.A. fire chief Kristin Crowley (salary: $654,000) tells Jake Tapper of CNN that the city failed her department. “The $17 million budget cut and the elimination of our civilian positions like our [16] mechanics did and has and will continue to severely impact our ability to repair apparatus…”
January 10: Chief Crowley admits that 100 of the department’s 183 emergency vehicles are out of commission.
January 10: It is reported that the LA fire chief was fired by the mayor.
January 11: The Associated Press issues a report that doesn’t mention arson or the lack of water as causes or contributors to the disaster, but places the blame on climate change. That figures.
January 11: The total number of confirmed fatalities has risen from 11 to 16, with five attributed to the Palisades Fire, and 11 resulting from the Eaton Fire.
January 12: Governor Gavin Newsom claims that reservoirs in southern California were 'completely full' when at least one of them has been confirmed to be empty.
January 12: LA fire death toll rises to 24 as locals are warned by the Sheriff to brace for 72 hours of hell.
January 12: A burglar disguised as a firefighter is among 29 arrested for looting homes destroyed in LA fires.
January 12: LA residents threaten to shoot looters as crime spirals.
January 14: “LA fire death toll rises to 25 with another 84,800 placed on evacuation alert as dire new warning is issued for smoldering city.”
January 14: Officials believe they have identified the location where the Palisades Fire started. It is suspected that the fire could be a rekindling of a New Year’s Eve fire that was started by fireworks.
January 15: “AccuWeather estimates more than $250 billion in damages and economic loss from LA wildfires.” The numbers add up when homes are worth $5 million, $8 million, or $125 million mega-mansion is reduced to rubble by LA fires.
In Closing
In an interview5, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, businessman and owner of the Los Angeles Times said the following when asked about accountability:
“Well, first of all, we'll accept some blame, right? So at the L.A. Times, we endorse Karen Bass. I think right now in front, that's a mistake.
“And we admit that. So I thought it was very early, important early on for me to come out. And I think we were one of the few to say competence matters, maybe 20, 23 million views to show how that was really dear to the heart of most people, whether you're right or left.
“And it's an interesting thing is that maybe we should think about how we elect people on the basis of, did they actually run a job? Did they actually make a payroll? Do they understand what it is?
“And rather than having professional politicians whose only job is really to run for office. There's nothing, I'm not trying to be disparaging, but I think we are at the stage now of the nation and the world, and there's many things we'll talk about even in healthcare, that you really need people to understand how it affects a man in the street, how it affects the working type of person. And I think President Trump in this election has understood that, and he's become truly a Republican party.
“As you said, he's become the Democratic party in terms of addressing the problems of the man in the street. So competence absolutely matters. And I'm glad that that's been taken up as almost a meme now, that competence matters.”
I thought it was interesting that I could not find any reference to this quote in ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, New York Times or Washington Post.
Great report, I just wish people would at least listen to the news, Every thing you say has been out there. Good Post