Pacific Palisades

Why is anyone even remotely interested in regime-changing a nasty, far-away foreign country that hates America when there is a nasty country much, much closer that hates us, too? OK, technically California is not a country, but it’s about the same size as Japan and Sweden. Its GDP – $4.1 trillion – is the fourth-highest in the world, behind the other 49 combined United States, China and Germany. It has as many residents as Canada. More people live here than in Spain or Saudi Arabia (and more than in our 22 smallest states combined). California is a monster in every way. That used to be a good thing: its powerful allure and economic might attracted the best and brightest from all over. Einstein taught in Pasadena, at Caltech.

In Los Angeles earlier this month, it wasn’t just the buildings that burned — they were homes, family businesses and places of worship. Yet, the Pacific Palisades community still stands. Sarah Peterson was at home when she got a text about a nearby fire. Fires near the Palisades weren’t uncommon, but when she opened her front door to check, she was only greeted by a wall of smoke. “I’ve been through other fires before, but I could tell this one was really, really close — and too big to ignore,” she said. Her first thought was of family. “You grow up with a feeling of community, and family, and home, So obviously your immediate thought is to make sure that everyone is OK,” she said.

Los Angeles witnessed something astonishing this week — ninety-mile-per-hour hurricane-force winds fanning the flames of uncontrollable wildfires. It is in extraordinary circumstances that the ordinary becomes all the more critical. Functioning fire hydrants, properly staffed public safety departments, an available mayor: all basics of government which citizens should come to expect. Yet Angelenos found the basics sorely lacking in response to the fires that ravaged the Palisades, Malibu and other coastal communities.   While no single person or decision could have prevented the resulting devastation, an assessment of local government’s preparation for and response to this crisis shows a litany of failures that have become all-too familiar to Californians.