Wildfires near Los Angeles make Pacific Palisades look like Dresden after World War II bombing. More than 12,000 homes, schools and businesses have been burned, dozens have died, at least 70,000 people have been left homeless, and the fires are still raging. [emphasis, links added]
AccuWeather estimates just two fires can cause $135-$150 in damage billion On property!
It was a doubly terrible tragedy because most of the death and destruction could have been avoided.
California has 33,000,000 acres of federal, state, and private forest lands, equivalent to the state of Wisconsin. As the state's population grew, forests and wildlife became increasingly integrated with human settlements.
Yet federal and state land managers, driven by ideology, activists, lawmakers and judges, have steadfastly refused to allow clearing of timber, thinning trees or clearing brush, or taking other actions that would reduce the likelihood of fires.
So many trees are crowded together that they lack space, water, nutrients and sunlight. Many people are sick. They are thin matchsticks, ready to burn.
About 32 million trees will die in 2022 alone, accounting for just 8% of these forest lands, but even then they are rarely cut down.
Rainy autumns and winters stimulate the growth of trees, shrubs and grasses. The hot summer makes everything dry. The extended drying period allows all these fuels to ignite over a longer period of time.
Lightning sparks from cars or power lines, campfires, and arsonists can cause area fires. Dry Santa Ana winds (40-70 mph, with gusts of 120-150 mph) drove the fires into inferno. Depleted and underfunded fire departments often arrive long after they have extinguished initial fires.
Fires create more powerful winds that blow embers, branches and even small trees thousands of feet — often into communities that are unprepared to deal with them.
This is just the beginning of a series of failures by California government that have led to recurring fires. Yet its politicians deftly avoid responsibility.
Their most common excuse is man-made climate change. They even have a new fear-inducing term: hydroclimate whiplash!
Fossil fuel-driven climate change is said to have brought about two unusually wet winters, spurring unprecedented plant growth, and then creating unprecedented drought conditions and unheard-of Santa Ana winds that made these hellish weather impossible. Predicted but inevitable.
It would be too generous to call large-scale, recurring government failures “incompetent.” Willful, callous, destructive malfeasance would be more appropriate. Criminal prosecution may be appropriate.
Governor Gavin Newsom wants to call a special session to discuss spending $25-50 million on “Trump-proof” state policies.
He wants to use a new $10 billion “climate bond” to reduce emissions from farms and ranches, improve “equitable access to nature,” build more parks in “disadvantaged communities,” upgrade ports to handle deepwater offshore wind projects, and more.
California is still pouring billions into electric vehicle subsidies, a “clean” energy transition and a $100 billion “bullet train to nowhere.”
It has spent billions more to support “sanctuary” status for illegal immigrants, maintain gender and DEI programs, and serve the nation’s largest homeless population – That includes more than 70,000 people who lost everything in the 2025 wildfires.
Legislative restrictions on how companies conduct fire risk assessments and the rates they charge for home insurance in high fire risk areas It caused insurance companies to leave the state or stop issuing new policies, leaving hundreds of thousands of families uninsured, underinsured or dependent on the state's FAIR program, which has only $385 million in reserves.
Meanwhile, they spent just $2.6 billion on “forest and wildfire resiliency” across 33 million acres, compared with $14.7 billion on electric vehicles and “clean renewable energy.”
The nightmare of 2018’s horrific Paradise fires is still fresh in the minds of many; Mayor Karen Bass cut $17.6 million from the Los Angeles Fire Department's budget, fired 100 firefighters who had not been vaccinated against COVID-19, and threw a party at a Ghana embassy reception when the fire broke out.
Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin CrowleySalary: $654,000) has spent millions on DEI programs and hired more women, gays, and minorities.
Kristine Larson, Associate/Diversity DirectorSalary: $307,000) said the victim wanted to see an emergency responder who “looks like you” and if she wasn't strong enough to pull your husband out of the fire, he would have “taken himself to the wrong place.”
Then, as winds picked up before the first bushfire was detected, they failed to put extra firefighters on duty – apparently to avoid paying overtime pay. That means the Los Angeles Fire Department can't get there before the fire gets out of control.
Exhausted firefighters trying to save multimillion-dollar homes in Palisades are running out of water.
One major reason is Los Angeles Department of Water and Power CEO Janisse Quiñones (Salary: $750,000)have The Santa Ynez Reservoir has a capacity of 117 million gallons and is used to repair the bottom of the reservoir. A full reservoir can replenish huge water storage tanks that supply water and pressurize local fire hydrants.
Quinones once said Her “number one” priority is equity and social justice. Could this explain why the reservoir was drained in February 2024? No contractor is hired until November 2024, and even then, no workers, equipment or materials are in place to perform 24/7 repairs.
Just as incompetent, Why are there no plans (or actions taken) to utilize the fireboats, tugboats, barges and other vessels at the Port of Long Beach and San Diego Naval Base?
Many come equipped with water reservoirs, pumps, hoses and nozzles. They can spray seawater directly onto coastal homes or run hoses to the shore to connect to fire hydrant systems.
Some salt water can remain in the soil and kill some plants. However, the choice should be easy. Some precious vegetation was lost to the lingering salt, or precious vegetation, houses, priceless heirlooms and artworks, important documents and everything else were incinerated by the violent inferno.
To complicate matters further, These fires produce large amounts of particulate matter and hazardous materials – From trees, plastics, batteries, solvents and other materials in homes, buildings and vehicles – these materials contaminate water and soil.
This could delay cleanup and rebuilding efforts for years. Actually, The Los Angeles Health Office said debris removal and reconstruction is prohibited until licensed officials inspect the site for toxins.
Golden Staters should reform their political, bureaucratic, and policy systems, starting with less woke D.
There is no doubt that all these forests and communities are burning Emitting more greenhouse gases than all the state’s now-shuttered coal and gas-fired power plants had emitted in decades.
Citizens must be given the opportunity to discuss all of these issues at town hall meetings before the next fire breaks out—which will be inevitable if proper forest and water management and personnel recruitment are not implemented immediately.
Simply put, the woke idiots responsible for this rampant destruction and loss of life must be replaced by those who understand their situation. The first job is to protect citizens from crime, fires and other disasters.
Meanwhile, Governor Newsom wants an investigation into the fire and hydrant water loss. Californians are no doubt praying that he's not just looking for excuses and scapegoats so that he and his favorite lawmakers can save their political secrets.
Golden Staters should reform their political, bureaucratic and policy systems, starting with less woke D.
They should also rely less on the government and more on themselves, as several of their neighbors at the Getty Villa and Malibu have done, thereby saving homes, wealth, and lives.
Paul Driessen is a senior policy analyst at the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (www.CFACT.org) and the author of books and articles on energy, environment, climate and human rights issues.
