You have commented 358 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Government Corruption
Paradise Lost - The burning of L.A. is not just a natural disaster. It's a man-made catastrophe.
2025-01-10
[Free Press] The first job of the government is to keep people safe. Failing that, its job is to show that someone is in charge when crisis erupts. On 9/11, there was nothing then—Mayor Rudy Giuliani could do to keep the World Trade Center from falling. Yet he became, in that long-ago era, the most popular person in America by staying on the scene and leading at his city’s moment of greatest danger.

That brings us to the fires in Los Angeles—the most devastating in the history of the city, with a reported 27,000 acres burned and the fires mostly uncontained. There, authorities have failed not only at protecting its residents but at inspiring confidence that they had the situation in hand.

We start with Mayor Karen Bass. As the Palisades fire began to consume wide swaths of America’s second-largest city, she was in Ghana to watch the inauguration of that country’s new president.

Bass left Los Angeles on Saturday—two days after the National Weather Service warned that strong winds and "extreme fire weather conditions" would soon threaten the city. On Sunday, the NWS announced a fire weather watch. By Monday, the warnings had become much more urgent, with the NWS tweeting in all-caps that "A LIFE-THREATENING, DESTRUCTIVE, Widespread Windstorm" would hit L.A. imminently.
Posted by:Besoeker

#19  
BREAKING NEWSLA Fire Chief is dismissed by Mayor Karen Bass after lashing out over department cuts as deadly blazes devastate city
READ MORE: LA's water chief 'knew about empty reservoir and broken hydrants

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14272935/fire-chief-kristin-crowley-fired-mayor-karen-bass-humiliated.html
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2025-01-10 21:07  

#18  LOL
"Climate Change is the Dog Ate My Homework" for democrat politicians.

Love the lady confronting Newsome, that guy trying to do the best Joe Biden Aviator Look. And he scurries off like a possum.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2025-01-10 20:15  

#17  Actually a woman-made catastrophe.
Posted by: Slats Hitler4552   2025-01-10 15:53  

#16  Climate change - the gift that keeps on giving.
Posted by: Bobby   2025-01-10 14:19  

#15  #12 viewing the images of Palisades with full developments of ashes, I suspect the entire district population will show up as voting Donk in the next elections.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2025-01-10 13:53  

#14  Gavin Newsom cut fire budget by $100m last year while giving more water to tiny tribal fish
Posted by: Skidmark   2025-01-10 12:37  

#13  Gonna be wild watching those Always Blue celebrities come to terms with the consequences of their actions. Perfect opportunity for them to sack off to the UK where the filming is subsidized and groomer gangs are already established.

Box of doughnuts newsome shows his scum and exempts them from the red tape to try to keep the prestige. Everyone else, good luck.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2025-01-10 12:31  

#12  Building Regulations, insurance issues, bankers, will hamper the recovery of CA. They will still vote blue.
Posted by: The Walking Unvaxed   2025-01-10 11:36  

#11  The Dems tend to gut cities.
Posted by: JohnQC   2025-01-10 10:48  

#10  People Who Blame All Natural Disasters on Climate Change Should Be Clubbed Like Baby Seals
Posted by: Frank G   2025-01-10 10:16  

#9  California wildfires: Police shoot down celebrities floating arson theories

Well there you go; arsonists.

Starting to hear trembles of casualties.

"Climate change exacerbates the issue."

It's like something they have to say, like in a hostage video. On the other hand, in a way, what was semi-arid desert has become sprawling urban. Like a few years back in Kansas City they opened a whole neighborhood up, tens of $millions in investments, and a couple years later one of those three year storms came through and flooded the whole place. Ends up they built in a historical flood plane.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2025-01-10 09:53  

#8  Question asked and answered, Air tankers scoop ocean water to battle Palisades Fire
Posted by: Procopius2k   2025-01-10 07:34  

#7  "Climate change exacerbates the issue."

They were doing fine up until then, where I stopped reading.
Posted by: DooDahMan   2025-01-10 05:31  

#6  California should be a horrible exam to the rest of USA.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective   2025-01-10 02:08  

#5  Utter chaos is sparked in Los Angeles County as 9.6million residents are wrongly told to evacuate wildfires

Tell everyone, or on the other side ... tell no one.

RETRO
Hawaii has a robust emergency siren warning system. It sat silent during the deadly wildfires
Posted by: Skidmark   2025-01-10 01:59  

#4  A homeless man dunnit? How unexpected.
Posted by: trailing wife   2025-01-10 01:47  

#3  Los Angeles 'arsonist' is arrested for 'starting Kenneth Fire' in celebrity enclave Calabasas as death toll hits 10
Posted by: Skidmark   2025-01-10 01:34  

#2  California wildfires: Police shoot down celebrities floating arson theories
Posted by: Skidmark   2025-01-10 01:33  

#1  VDH on the fire.
Posted by: Besoeker   2025-01-10 00:51  

00:00