The ongoing agony for LA has a roadmap. It’s not pretty for those who want to return to normal ASAP. Insurance payments are designed to be drawn out and minimized. I’d love to understand how people can face this and solve for themselves, their homes and their neighborhoods.
A well told story of the big pieces (history) and the small pieces (neighbors looking to take care of one another). LA will never be the same, similar maybe, but like Chicago or Atlanta the rebuilding will alter the form and social patterns in the city.
That cities burn is kind of beside the fact given that citizens have come to expect (apparently erroneously) to be protected against such fires by funding fire-fighting systems designed to, at the very least, limit the levels of destruction. What is reasonable for citizens to expect from local government in such unusual situations? Have citizen expectations more often been met or resulted in disappointed assumptions? If the latter, might there be better ways to provide public safety then through publicly administered infrastructure, inasmuch as we can now see its flaws? A genuine *reimaging* of and reckoning with what's actually possible in contrast to the lofty rhetorical professions of the political classes would, to my mind, be a very constructive result of this trajedy.
Here’s hoping your home—and you—stay safe. I can’t imagine. I grew up in Northern California in the country (six miles outside the city of Lincoln) and fire was a constant concern in the summer. My parents owned ten acres and keeping the grass down was vital. A neighbor a few lots down let his grass get out of hand on spring and mowed it too late. His mower blade hit a rock, threw a spark, and ended up burning the area for acres around.
We had to evacuate, though our house ended up being upwind from the resultant fire; we were fine. Dozens of neighbors were not. But fires like that pale in comparison to what you’re dealing with. The destruction is mindboggling.
It is good to hear you are safe, for now. Those winds are a part of southern California life underappreciated on the other side of the country. We get seasonal high wind, but it's not a dry wind. Thanks for the nonhot take.
It's much more comforting to blame human error, which can be addressed, than the winds and the geography, which are not subject to human agency. Thanks for this well written and well considered essay.
The ongoing agony for LA has a roadmap. It’s not pretty for those who want to return to normal ASAP. Insurance payments are designed to be drawn out and minimized. I’d love to understand how people can face this and solve for themselves, their homes and their neighborhoods.
LA Fires Revive Trauma for Homeowners Battling Insurance Claims https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-01-22/la-fires-what-to-know-about-filing-a-wildfire-insurance-claim
A well told story of the big pieces (history) and the small pieces (neighbors looking to take care of one another). LA will never be the same, similar maybe, but like Chicago or Atlanta the rebuilding will alter the form and social patterns in the city.
That cities burn is kind of beside the fact given that citizens have come to expect (apparently erroneously) to be protected against such fires by funding fire-fighting systems designed to, at the very least, limit the levels of destruction. What is reasonable for citizens to expect from local government in such unusual situations? Have citizen expectations more often been met or resulted in disappointed assumptions? If the latter, might there be better ways to provide public safety then through publicly administered infrastructure, inasmuch as we can now see its flaws? A genuine *reimaging* of and reckoning with what's actually possible in contrast to the lofty rhetorical professions of the political classes would, to my mind, be a very constructive result of this trajedy.
Here’s hoping your home—and you—stay safe. I can’t imagine. I grew up in Northern California in the country (six miles outside the city of Lincoln) and fire was a constant concern in the summer. My parents owned ten acres and keeping the grass down was vital. A neighbor a few lots down let his grass get out of hand on spring and mowed it too late. His mower blade hit a rock, threw a spark, and ended up burning the area for acres around.
We had to evacuate, though our house ended up being upwind from the resultant fire; we were fine. Dozens of neighbors were not. But fires like that pale in comparison to what you’re dealing with. The destruction is mindboggling.
It is good to hear you are safe, for now. Those winds are a part of southern California life underappreciated on the other side of the country. We get seasonal high wind, but it's not a dry wind. Thanks for the nonhot take.
It's much more comforting to blame human error, which can be addressed, than the winds and the geography, which are not subject to human agency. Thanks for this well written and well considered essay.