Los Angeles experienced a new day of fighting fire this Thursday, with the surrounded city attacked by five fires from various sides and without the authorities, for the moment, being able to put most of them under control. More than 7,000 hectares have burned, more than two thousand buildings have been destroyed and, so far, five people have died, as well as many more injured by the effect of the flames. “Apocalyptic”, “biblical”, “infernal”, “like a war zone.” Adjectives were not enough for those who have witnessed the violence of these fires, which have burned entire neighborhoods in a few hours.
The most destructive fires are those in Eaton, in the vicinity of Pasadena and Altadena, the only one in which fatalities have been recorded so far; and the Pacific Palisades, in the corridor that runs from Santa Monica to Malibu, on the Pacific coast, where privileged neighborhoods have burned, including some spectacular mansions that have been consumed by flames. Both were still out of control Thursday afternoon.
But the fire also reached the heart of Los Angeles, in one of its emblematic places: the Hollywood Hills, the mecca of cinema. On Wednesday night, a fire broke out there, adding to four others that since Tuesday have burned thousands of hectares around the second largest city in the United States. It was in an area next to the rocky hills and bushes in Runyon Canyon, one of the many canyons that surround Los Angeles, and which is one of the favorite corners of the city’s inhabitants. Angelenos go there every morning to play sports, enjoy the spectacular views of the city and, incidentally, catch a famous actor doing the same.
Those nighttime flames threatened the soul of Los Angeles. Nearby residential areas had to be evacuated, including iconic landmarks such as the Walk of Fame, the Chinese Theater and the Madam Tusseau Museum. There were fears that the fire would reach the giant Hollywood letters, the symbol of Los Angeles, which are on a nearby hill.
That did not happen, at least until Thursday afternoon (early Friday morning in Spain). At that time, the evacuation orders in Hollywood had been lifted and that fire, although not controlled, did not affect residential areas. The reason was the fall of one of the central elements of this tragic week in Los Angeles: the wind.
On Thursday morning, it stopped forcefully. After sustained gusts of up to 160 kilometers per hour were recorded in the previous days, the wind dropped and there were only speeds of 25 to 50 kilometers. But meteorologists warned that the good wind would be short-lived and was expected to gain strength again on Thursday night and Friday and return to around 100 kilometers per hour.
The return of the winds will once again put the authorities on the ropes, who have proven incapable of facing the ‘perfect storm’ of these fires: record rains last year, which triggered the vegetation; persistent dryness for weeks, which turned that vegetation into fuel; and hurricane-force winds, which not only spread the fire at high speed, but also impede extinguishing efforts from helicopters and seaplanes.
Bad management
For some, however, the tragedy cannot be understood without the calamitous management of the authorities. “The perfect storm is one of poor management and inability to lead,” protested actor Dean Cain in an appearance on Fox News. “The Santa Ana winds are not new, the winds in this part of California are not new,” he said. “What is new are decades of disastrous leadership, lack of preparation, meaningless regulations and bureaucracy.”
Criticism has intensified against local authorities. Donald Trump has gotten into a political fight with one of his favorite rivals, the governor of California, Democrat Gavin Newsom. “You must resign, this is all your fault,” the president-elect wrote Wednesday night, amid accusations that Newsom’s hydrographic policy – limiting transfers for environmental reasons – is behind the disaster.
“The fire spreads rapidly for three days, without any containment,” Trump criticized on his social network, where he accused both Newsom and the mayor of Los Angeles, also a Democrat, Karen Bass, of “total incompetence.” The latter has been the one that has received the most criticism. Not just because last year he decided to cut the budget for the fire service by $17 million. Also because, while the city was burning, she was traveling in Ghana, where she attended the inauguration of the new president. Another Democrat, the still US president, Joe Biden, decided not to go on an official trip to Italy to closely monitor the situation.
Lack of investment in the fire department
Beyond the political battle, many, including Democrats, recognize that the city was not prepared for this situation. Traci Park, Democratic councilor for the Pacific Palisades district, assured ‘The Washington Post’ that there is a “chronic lack of investment by the city of Los Angeles in our public infrastructure.” It was in his district where the fire hydrants ran dry, after the three water supply tanks could not be refilled at the rate needed to extinguish the fire.
Park acknowledged that the multiple fires created unusual pressure on city services. But he also criticized that Los Angeles has the same number of firefighters – 3,400 – as it did half a century ago, while the city has grown strongly in population and area; that 62 new fire stations are needed; that there are one hundred trucks out of operation due to lack of mechanics. “We have a lot to do to make Los Angeles and its infrastructure belong in the modern world,” he said.
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