The Fire Next Time
The L.A. fires will go down as one of the greatest American catastrophes of the 21st century. The total devastation of an area the size of Buffalo, where some of the richest people in America lived, will take 20 years to recover and rebuild. As for the very rich Hollywood victims, it’s hard to muster much sympathy for them because I imagine all of them had other homes elsewhere and will resume normal life overnight.
This catastrophe made me wonder: could it happen here? Absolutely! As a retired firefighter, I totally understand how easily it could happen in any city in America. Understand that we live in houses made of something that was at one time a tree—called wood. With the right wind conditions like those in California, fire is literally unstoppable, regardless of how much manpower and water one might have.
That is why I was genuinely afraid during the 2022 Christmas blizzard, where the entire Fire Department was unable to respond down streets with 4-5 feet high snowdrifts. Had a fire broken out in those high-wind blizzard conditions, the death toll would have been innumerable. Older people would have been trapped inside their homes, and others would have been forced into the freezing snow and wind to die from exposure. Few realize just how dangerous that night could have been.
This reminds me of my days on the BFD. Back in the eighties, I was assigned to a South Buffalo fire station. One summer afternoon, there was a report of smoke showing in a brush area behind an industrial building. The call wasn’t anything new. The vacant lot was a common hangout spot for neighborhood teenagers who lit bonfires and sat around to drink and smoke. The call was usually a quick wet-down and pick-up.
That day, the winds were brisk, and we suspected the bonfire embers had lit up the dry vegetation in the surrounding area. My captain and I had to walk back into the field a good 200 yards to find the source of the fire. Suddenly, a surprisingly stiff gust of wind picked up, and we were almost instantaneously surrounded by fire. We were forced to literally sprint back to the rig with the fire licking at our backs. It scared the sh&*& out of me. That taught me a big lesson about fire and wind that day.
Some would categorize the L.A. fires as an “act of God.” That’s exactly what it is. This is God’s wrath on America for its funding of Israel and the real-time genocide of the Palestinian people. There’s an old expression: “God don’t like ugly,” and that is exactly what America is today. We are ugly in the eyes of the Lord. America will continue to pay a price for its sins against humanity.