Left Coast: An effective response to SoCal wildfires
October 25, 2007
By Kai Stinchcombe
I drove down to Los Angeles Monday night with my girlfriend to report on the wild fires that have been raging this week in Southern California.
Driving down the 5 toward L.A., I was struck by the number of convoys of state fire trucks headed toward the disaster. In a four-hour drive, we probably passed about 50 fire trucks.
In Los Angeles, police convoys screamed around the city with their sirens on, blocking dangerous roads, clearing emergency routes and preparing to evacuate residents. At times, we saw a dozen police vehicles headed down the highway together to a new fire, or 20 squad cars parked down a street preparing an evacuation.
Residents described getting “reverse 911” calls — emergency services calling them to let them know what was going on and that they needed to get out. In areas in the path of the fire, lights were on and neighbors were often moving from house to house, assessing the situation together as fire crews set up positions.
Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff states that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has learned its lessons since Hurricane Katrina. They provided emergency relief grants yesterday and are aiming to have 1,900 fire fighters on the ground by this morning. This is a fast response and an appropriate one.
The state response has also been impressive. The California Department of Forestry and Fire has 45 aircraft at 22 air bases; operates 1,100 fire engines at 800 fire stations; employs 5,200 personnel; and organizes 5,600 volunteer firefighters during the fire season. Its budget was increased by over a quarter to $1.3 billion this year, of which 94% goes to fire protection. California firefighters’ training is among the best in the nation.
In both Los Angeles and San Diego, city and county units were efficient and well prepared. The city of Los Angeles employs about 3,600 union fire fighters and, thanks to a $500 million bond issue in 2000, has excellent facilities, including a new emergency air operations base. The county fire department adds in 1,300 firefighters, 250 engines and 10 helicopters.
This is clearly not a Katrina-scale disaster — less than 10 percent of the land is burned in L.A. and Orange Counties, and only 8 percent of residents have evacuated, as opposed to Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed an entire region. The governments in L.A. and San Diego are still staffed and functioning. Furthermore, the baseline wealth in Los Angeles and San Diego is much higher, meaning that more people have access to transportation and alternative housing. But the comparison is one everyone is drawing, and it is illustrative.
Almost a million people have been evacuated, and thousands of homes have been destroyed, but only five lives have been reported lost at press time.
This time, the disaster response worked. Although the 1,900 federal firefighters are welcome, the vast majority of fire resources in play are still Californian. What we’re seeing is California’s tax dollars at work.
There is always more to do, but we should pause for a moment and thank ourselves for making these investments. California has a well trained, high-morale, professional firefighting force and the physical infrastructure to support these firefighters. Our police departments are well staffed and have the equipment they need. We have competent administrative agencies that can coordinate a disaster response, prepare plans in advance and work together smoothly.
It’s easy to complain about the high and numerous taxes in California. But looking at the response to this disaster, it seems our tax dollars have been put to good use. This was a time when we needed our government, and our government — in the form of the brave fire fighters and police officers still battling the fires — has followed through.
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