A Complete Failure of Government.

 "The fear of loss is a far greater motivator than the anticipation of gain."

                                       -  Unknown

My wife Elaine and I were headed off to Laguna Beach for an early dinner that fateful August, 1993 evening.  We happened to notice a small fire burning in a trash pile on an empty lot as we drove by.  We thought nothing of it.

After dinner, while we were on our way home, we noted that the fire had increased in size ten-fold, and fire personnel were there to put it out.  Once again, we thought nothing of it.

The next  morning I stepped out on my balcony, cup of coffee in hand, and viewed with alarm the blood red morning skyline.  South County was on fire...

That was August 7th, and a good chunk of Laguna Beach burned to the ground.  High-zoot homes of the rich and famous.  Burned to the ground.  As a direct result of our annual "Devil" fires.  Our Santa Ana winds bear down upon us from the East every Summer.  We'll have "off shore" breezes for several days a year.  The normal airflow out of Alaska takes a turn for the East instead of our West, giving us "on shore" breezes.  But with Santa Anas, the wind is sent to the East, wrung of moisture by the deserts, then rammed through our mountain passes leading into Southern California.  Gaining speed as a result.  A lot of it.  

It could be as little as a 20 or 30 miles per hour breeze.  It could be a 40 or 50 mph blow.  And then again, it could be an 80 or 100 mph, hurricane-strength torrent of wind.  Unequalled in our recent history, as we're now suffering.  In fact, we were warned it was coming, by our meterologists.  But our leadership did not one goddamn thing about it.

L. A.'s Mayor trimmed $17.1 Million Dollars from L. A.'s Fire Department last summer, all while be warned that it would cripple their recruitment, training, operations and retention.  And Mayor Karen Bass spent at least $1.8 Million Dollars on "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" training during that same period.  

Priorities?

And then, 2025's Annual Santa Ana Winds arrived.  In a Very Big Way.  Our meterologists warned us all last weekend that conditions would be right for sustained Santa Anas starting on Tuesday.  They did.  They said those winds would last through Friday.  They are.  They said they'd be historic in strength.  They were.  And they said if a spark were to be struck, it could be a modern day Armageddon.  

And that has happened.

State Farm cancelled 1,600 insurance policies for Pacific Palisades homes last Summer.  And they cannot be blamed, as the State would not grant them sufficient operating profits to warrant the risk.  The State (read, "BoyGuv" Newsom) implemented rather its "FAIR" Act, which made the State the insuror of last resort.  Funded with $2.1 Billion Dollars of our money.  Yours and mine.  He'd rather put the responsibility on us, the Taxpayers, than a private company.  Just to deprive that private company, and other private companies, of a fair return on their investors' money.  For shame.

And those 1,600 homes burned to the ground last Tuesday and Wednesday.  And another 10,000 alongside them.  Not just the $Multi-Million Dollar mansions, the modest homes way up the hill, bought by grandparents in the 1960's for $100,000, and now passed on to family members and worth several $Million.  

The ground may be worth several $Million, but the house is only worth $200.000.  

With no insurance, will these middle-class folks be able to rebuild?  Or will this in effect render this vast, 15,000 acre swath of prime real estate go without redevelopment?  Like Detroit, only with an Ocean view.

When the fire appeared, fueled by 100 mph winds, the homes burned in minutes inside a 2,000 degree inferno.  300,000 residents were told to evacuate.  Cars literally melted.  The fire hydrants, unfortunately, were empty.  And because of faulty planning, the evacuation was flawed.  Fire engines couldn't get to homes.  Abandoned cars clogged the one street in and out.  It was chaos.  It was a Hellscape.  It was a complete and total failure of Government.

However, the one bright spot is that O'Biden told us he's a great-grandfather.  Oh,. and Lost Angeles' famously lesbian Fire Chief Kristin Crawford was able to boast that her "DEI" implementation was going well, although they were down several hundred fire fighters in staffing.  They hadn't found enough LGBTQ++ candidates, I assume.  Forcing them to call in help from surrounding states.  Which obliged, thankfully.  When our own highly-paid civil servants cannot serve, it's nice to get help from others that do.

Our elected and appointed leaders have learned nothing from that Laguna Beach Fire.  Even though it was a carbon copy in all but size of the six being fought right now.  This one is Laguna Beach x 20.

Ten people have died in this calamity, so far.  An estimated $150 Billion Dollars in damages may ultimately be attributed to these six fires.  So far.  A couple of major insurance companies could go bankrupt.  That makes it the single most expensive natural disaster in U. S. history.  

Times five.  

At least our outgoing Prez was kind enough to offer to pay for all costs of fighting this fire for the next 180 days.  With our Tax money.  Tying Trump's hands to that promise.  He's such a nice guy!  

And at least Karen Bass got to see the new Prez of Ghana inaugurated.  She was warned about the chances of a major fire while she was gone, but chose to travel anyway.  She flew 26,000 miles in 36 hours, and earned the hate of millions!

And famously gay Chief Crawford got to celebrate her gayness.  And her DEI program.  But this event just might cause all the famously Left-wing Democrat Hollywood set to rethink their politics.  Maybe living in the local hotels while they fight through the permitting process, trying to rebuild their homes out-of-pocket, will be enough for them to come to their senses.  Let them feel what the "little people" feel for a change.  Maybe it will motivate them.

We'll see...

I'm sick to my stomach about all of this, as any thinking citizen would be.  I've seen fires where a few houses burn and a few are spared.  But we're talking more than 20,000 acres completely decimated.  It looks like Dresden after we firebombed it during the Big War.  It's complete and total devistation.  And a complete and total failure of Government.

I started this rant with a nod to an unknown author.  It surmizes that the fear of losing should motivate one more than any hoped-for gain.  I wonder when these residents of high dollar zip codes will band together and work to prevent a recurrance.  First, throw out the poseurs and hire some real managers.  Then watch them like a hawk to make sure they follow through on their promises.  Proper management of forrest, water and human resources could have mitigated this disaster.  

We have to ask questions why it didn't happen.  We'll see if they do...