#lidia fire

The upkeep and management of the majority of land in California, including many of the mountain ranges in LAC, are controlled by the federal government, not the state/ local government. LA's big fires, atm, are:

Palisades (West LAC)

Hurst (North LAC)

Eaton (NE LAC)

Lidia Fire (NNE LAC)

I'm sure some folks will say "Rich people, who cares?" And maybe there's some truth there. Pacific Palisades (Palisades) is a wealthy millionaire town. Still, even rich towns need people who aren't rich to run things, Sylmar (Hurst) is not well off at all and San Gabriel Valley (Eaton) is a highly mixed bag.

Why are land management and region an important points?

Well, most forest fires in the US are deadly because we have shit environmental regulations, poor comms infrastructure and poor disaster prevention policy. CA state policy for all three is better than much of the US, but California only controls 47% of the land within its borders. When the portions CA doesn't control are the places that most often catch on fire, that point becomes worth noting.

Does this mean the US federal government is out to get CA? Absolutely not, not any more or less than usual, anyway. It just means when you want to do stuff like control emissions (Smog increases local heat island weather effects, which is bad for drought conditions), or do water management, or rebuild ecosystems or enact fire prevention programs (Which our state and county does, often in consultation with the public, researchers and local tribal councils), you can't always do it in the places that need it the most.

This, btw, is why prudent CA voters still vote in national elections, even when CA's results are generally considered a foregone conclusion. Senate and Congress control the national budget, which controls the extent of activities for national agencies relevant to many Californians, like FEMA, EPA, USDA, HHS, etc.

The community where I live is near such federally controlled land (And thus, unsurprisingly, a fire origin point). We know to expect forest fires and windstorms and how to prepare for them, and we do. There's just only so much that can be done when 3 poorly managed mountain regions are all burning on the same day because you've got gusts of wind in excess of 80 mph pushing the fires towards towns.

I've spent the last 24 hours clearing wind debris in smoky weather so my neighbors can move around, calling neighbors, family and friends to check in, helping house people who have lost their homes all while eyeing the evac maps online. But I love where I live because people from all backgrounds show up to help each other out. We don't have to be asked. We don't ask who to help versus who not to help. It is what we do because it is needed.

I am 2 miles from the fire, and I feel safe because my local and county government have enacted services and support systems (funded and voted on by members of my community and the rest of LA+CA) to make sure I have what I need. I, in turn, pay that forward to those who have less than me by helping out my community. This applies to much of what makes LA and California the way they are: We routinely contribute more in taxes to national and state budgets than we receive.

Race, language, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, nationality, immigration status, ideology, caste, class - what kind of bored, over-indulged, petty person cares about causing people problems over such things when there are more life-threatening problems to solve and people in trouble?

So many people tell me they can't stand the idea of living in LA because of all the disasters, the rules and the high taxes. But I wish more of the world could see the people here during a natural disaster.

My life in LA has been constantly punctuated by natural disasters with the curious side effect of bringing out the best in people who have literally nothing in common beyond where we live. This is how I know that a world where people can put aside their differences exists and why I still feel hopeful in the middle of a forest fire.

I know people can put aside their own suffering to behave with grace and compassion towards perfect strangers because I have seen it happen again and again and again.

Thank you for your well wishes. We are not doing fine right now, but I assure you we will be fine.

Hope and resilience comes from a childhood and life spent breathing smoke-filled air and doing something about it together so others don't have to live as we have.