Ask A Genius 1253: The L.A. Fires
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/02/02
Rick Rosner: Let’s shift to its politics. The estimated damage could reach around $100 billion by the time the fires are fully contained, and there will be a lot of blame. Republicans and Trump are trying to pin it on the mayor and Governor Newsom, and Fox News is echoing the same narrative. While there is some culpability, it’s worth noting that the fire department recently hired a logistics specialist with a salary of three-quarters of a million dollars per year—though she’s now at risk of losing her job.”
A 117‑million‑gallon reservoir was shut down for repairs due to a minor issue—a tear in its cover—that might have compromised the drinkability of the water. But drinkability isn’t the same as forest-fire fightability. There has long been a problem with broken hydrants not getting repaired—some remain unfixed for years after being reported. No new fire stations have been built since the 1960s, even though Los Angeles’ population has doubled. As a result, we’re likely to see a lot of investigations and plenty of finger-pointing.”
Though, if you want to, I still think that most of the blame—well, maybe the blame adds up to more than 100%—lies with these brutal, 100‑mile‑per‑hour winds and the unprecedented dry conditions. Even if that reservoir had been online, it would have been unlikely to stop the fire.
A lot of people are going to be in trouble over this. If I had to assign blame, I’d say about 10–15% falls on the governor and perhaps a bit more on our mayor. Plus, that logistics specialist—paid three‑quarters of a million dollars—gets her share, too. The power companies also probably deserve blame; they don’t maintain their equipment, which causes many fires. They’re supposed to shut off the power to the wires when the wind starts blowing crazy because then the wires can swing into things, spark, and ignite fires. It appears they probably didn’t do that. So, there’s a ton of blame to go around.
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