Los Angeles Fires Lasting Impact
Los Angeles
From culture to business loss, what comes next?
I love California.
I have lived in many different cities and countries, but California just has a kind of magic that can’t be replicated. I have spent years in Los Angeles (and Palm Springs) in particular, and came to appreciate the cities many cultures, complexities, innovation, arts, and beauty. Every neighborhood is like a different town, under the umbrella of ‘Los Angeles’. It is a place of both big dreamers and fallen stars, built in a sprawling confounding way, but it works. It is home to Hollywood, creatives, tech companies, textile production, Latino culture, major food (1/3 of the country's vegetables + three-quarters of the country's fruits and nuts) and wine producers (80% of all wine in the US), primary shipping years, and is the wealthiest state (would be the 5th richest country in the world). So it’s difficult to explain the immensity of the fires from the Palisades to Altadena - some that are still burning - and the destruction (estimated to be over $250 Billion) it has left its wake. It is beyond devastating.
The sheer size of the fires is unfathomable, spread by the perfect storm of extreme winds which made them impossible to contain. So far, The Eaton Fire that scorched 14,021 acres (57 square km) east of Los Angeles was 91% contained, while the larger Palisades Fire, which has consumed 23,448 acres (95 square km) on the west side of Los Angeles, stood at 68% contained. And new fires have started just north of the city
Regardless of all the disinformation and false conspiracy theories, it will be a process to complete the investigation around it, so exercise caution and patience. There are so many things I want to say, but others have done a far better job so let me share some reading.
Reads
‘A flood of disinformation’: rumors and lies abound amid Los Angeles wildfires
Fact-checking misinformation about the Los Angeles wildfires and California water policy
Insurance Companies Canceled Policies Before People Lost Their Homes
Canada and Mexico Are Sending Teams to Help California Fight the Fires
‘Essential’: nearly 800 incarcerated firefighters deployed as LA battles wildfires
Will L.A.’s Fires Permanently Disperse the Black Families of Altadena?
Wildfires in Los Angeles: Impacts on wildlife and ocean ecosystems
José Andrés' World Central Kitchen, food trucks aid fire-hit LA
How Watch Duty Became an Essential Resource for Angelenos During Wildfires
Hollywood Reporter and Variety on the massive impact on Hollywood business
Lastly, when a certain orange gremlin recently (and shamefully) elected into office has plans to punish California, and is threatening to withhold fire aid…it’s a good time to remind him that California pays the most tax into the federal system that helps out all of the other states that rely on it. And what if it stopped?
Ways to Help Los Angeles lists from:
“Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping” ~ Fred Rogers