Heroes of the California wildfire catastrophe in Daydreaming on the Porch
- Jan. 20, 2025, 1:08 p.m.
- |
- Public
The world has never been as close to going to hell in a hand basket as it is today. Never in the history of humanity have we been so close to planetary catastrophe…
Bernardo Kastrup
To outsiders, Los Angeles can come off as a faceless sprawl filled with artifice and isolation. But those who live there discover that every neighborhood and every backyard is its own universe. Each hub of the region has its own character, cuisine, vernacular, soul and landmarks.
Shawn Hubler
The New York Times
Human stories don’t have to end with disaster and death. Instead, catastrophes can signal the beginning of something new.
Grace Moore
We’re facing extreme cold weather here in Charleston all next week. Never have I known a cold spell to last this long in our part of the country.
But then I just saw this headline:
SoCal faces most urgent warning for strong winds, extreme fire danger
How dangerous and extreme can the weather get?
The horrific and powerful Santa Ana winds are returning to Southern California. It’s Sunday, January 19 as I write this.
The destruction caused by the tragic and unprecedented inferno from the Los Angeles wildfires two weeks ago, has been so shocking to see that I am still trying to fathom the extent of the utter devastation caused by this conflagration that was rapidly spread by 50-100 mph Santa Ana winds, shooting burning embers across, and destroying, entire neighborhoods and communities.
I watched an hour of one video of a drive on a sunny, clear day through Pacific Palisades after the fire, and except for a few houses and buildings left standing, everything else was in ash and ruins. I was riveted by mile after mile of the vast wasteland that a once green, vibrant and affluent coastal community, Pacific Palisades, had become. Half a dozen wildfires, left 24 dead and 12,000 structures destroyed. I kept hearing the devastation being described as “apocalyptic.” Indeed it was and still is.
After watching countless videos, many of which were utterly heartbreaking, I had to turn away, donate where I could, and mourn for the thousands of individuals and families that lost everything.
But will this surreal catastrophe result in more fireproof new homes, as well as countless other changes that might make the fire-prone areas safer? I’m skeptical that it will. And who can even afford to rebuild after losing insurance coverage.
I selected some videos that captured the emotions, sadness and bravery of that history-making fire starting on January 7. What is the world coming to?
Firefighting heroes
https://youtube.com/shorts/6_LhKjRVYBc?si=sf0HHXwCJlzai_XW
Just a portion of the devastation
https://youtube.com/shorts/VOX1tDLZ1lE?si=IQx66aotmUSYeSPA
Lost dog found
Last updated January 20, 2025
music & dogs & wine ⋅ January 20, 2025
The massive amount of pets who were displaced is heartbreaking. So many people didn't have enough warning to get back to their homes to get them. My IG is flooded with rescue groups in LA who have so many dogs/cats/turtles they are trying to reunite with their families, I hope they can! Losing your house is enough, but losing a pet would be so much more for me.
I got a "fire warning" alert on my phone yesterday, said the winds were picking back up and were supposed to go through tomorrow. So far nothing here, and it was cold all day, in the 50's. I hope it was the same for LA.
Oswego music & dogs & wine ⋅ January 20, 2025
Yes, the video of the rescued dog was so moving and said so much about the suffering of animals and people in the fire zones. .
I hope you get through this okay. When do the Santa Ana winds finally go away?
music & dogs & wine Oswego ⋅ January 21, 2025
This is the longest we have had them, they can really happen anytime. I feel like November is when we usually get them the worst, and it's usually only like 2 or 3 days. This is neverending.
Today the winds are bad at my house, my app says the normal wind is 22 MPH with gusts at 45 MPH. I'm surprised we haven't lost power today!
Oswego music & dogs & wine ⋅ January 21, 2025
Keep safe. I got the impression the Santa Ana winds were lasting way longer than they normally do. It’s the worst possible means of wildfires spreading along with drought and extremely dry conditions.
Sleepy-Eyed John ⋅ January 20, 2025
I'm pissed off the insurance companies are denying people coverage.
Good videos!
Oswego Sleepy-Eyed John ⋅ January 21, 2025
They rake in the profits in premiums and then deny coverage or adequate payouts. They know or fear what the future will bring for their industry, as natural disasters increase and become magnified in intensity and destructiveness many-fold. They’ll be wiped out and only the wealthy will be able to rebuild. The rest will live in exorbitantly costly rentals.
gypsy spirit ⋅ January 20, 2025 (edited January 20, 2025)
Edited
we in NZ have been following those horrific fires on our news here too and they have been unbelievably brutal for sure.
There are some good quotes above as well and the one that follows my line of thought is the short one from Grace Moore of course.
Climate change is creating so much havoc worldwide, extremes and unpredictable almost daily. It has been affecting our summer down under as well.
take care, and thanks for these words... hugs p
Oswego gypsy spirit ⋅ January 21, 2025
My friend, I am afraid that as dreadful as the California wildfires are, they are but the prelude to much worse to come. We have become so complacent as to the where we build houses but how we build them, with hardly thought to the risk of rapid conflagrations sweeping over entire neighborhoods, towns and cities.
Can we turn things around in time? I really don’t know, but my natural inclination is to be hopeful because the alternative is so terrible for the generations growing up now.
gypsy spirit Oswego ⋅ January 21, 2025 (edited January 21, 2025)
Edited
I totally agree, this is the early stages of climate change and is largely a consequence of human behaviour. We must all change, adapt or feel the brutality of its worst. However like you I also believe there is hope yet....people learn some how even if it is the hard way.
take care of yourself...we each can play our own small part too.
Unfortunately with your new president's attitude to the environment as well as global issues....the struggle will be harder now.hugs p
Oswego gypsy spirit ⋅ January 21, 2025
Yes, it will be so much harder. Something fundamental about our country died with Trump ascending his dictator’s throne again, unbelievably. I never stop asking, “HOW could this have happened?”
gypsy spirit Oswego ⋅ January 22, 2025
words fail me on the trump issue as well. p
Oswego gypsy spirit ⋅ January 22, 2025
I am shocked but not surprised at what he did on his first day in office. We the people are going to have to rise up and resist any way we can!
gypsy spirit Oswego ⋅ January 22, 2025
yes
Jinn ⋅ January 20, 2025
I have been watching the fires for days. Sometimes I just have to stop . It is so awful about the people who could not get out , The pets, the wildlife , and horses. My heart sank when I saw people trying to lead some horses out through the smoke and flames. Horses panic at the sight and smell of fire. I will be shocked if many can rebuild there . The very rich might be able to but the middle income people I think would find it almost impossible, especially if they had lost insurance coverage.
There is a conspiracy theory circulating ( I think it was voiced by Mel Gibson on the Joe Rogan show ) that the fires were set by arsonists hired by developers that want the land and who think they can get the state to take the land under imminent domain. I have always thought Gibson was kind of bizarre person ( although a fair actor in some movies ) so I put little credence in anything he says. However it was shocking to hear that it could even be a possibility.. I suspect that idea was floated because of developers trying to buy the land in Hawaii cheap after the fires. I don’t think that was successful in Hawaii .
There are a lot things LA people could do in the future better if they insist on living there ; take better care of their reservoir and hydrants , cut down the brush and build fireproof houses, maybe even firebreak walls around residences . Have better surveillance systems and more organized teams of firefighters specially trained in fighting wildfires. Invest in tanker planes themselves. Newsom and the mayor of LA failed to be prepared . They are not popular in LA or California right now.
Oswego Jinn ⋅ January 23, 2025
Sadly, this was the kind of multiple outbreak wildfire that no county or municipality on earth could have been prepared for. The Palisades fires could have been arson, but I am not sure they will be able to establish that fact, although they have pinpointed the precise location of the source of the fire.
Because of the horrific Santa Ana winds, no area of the huge basin will be safe from conflagrations even worse than what we’re seeing now because global warming will being 1,000-year droughts every 5-10 years or more frequently.
Jinn Oswego ⋅ January 23, 2025
More fires today. The landscape there appears apocalyptic .