The Los Angeles wildfires are still raging. There was a period when things were trending toward containment. Still, the situation was never entirely under the control of firefighters battling these infernos, which have become our nation’s worst natural disaster. The cuts to the Los Angeles Fire Department have been felt and demonstrated for all to see, and it’s not pretty. From lack of equipment, failing gear, and the loss of hydrants, among many other things, the disastrous response has encapsulated the excesses of liberal governance, whose priorities are way outside the mainstream. Emergency services are essential, but DEI, trans bars, and gay choirs are not—that’s why the city of LA opted to spend the cash instead.
The lack of water, especially with the Palisades blaze, has been well-documented. The Sanat Ynez reservoir, which could have been a crucial water source, has been empty since at least last February. The levels of incompetence are miles deep, and I’m sure it wouldn’t shock you that local officials were warned about failing water systems, and no one did anything about it. The reports on the deficiencies here date back to 2013 (via LA Times):
This is a bombshell piece. https://t.co/wjPev7b1gX
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) January 24, 2025
Los Angeles County officials missed dozens of opportunities for water infrastructure improvements that experts say probably would have enabled firefighters to save more homes during the Palisades fire, public records show.
[…]
thousands of pages of state, county and municipal records reviewed by The Times show the disaster was years in the making. Red tape, budget shortfalls and government inaction repeatedly stymied plans for water system improvements — including some that specifically cited the need to boost firefighting capacity.
Many projects on a list of about three dozen “highest priority” upgrades compiled by county officials in 2013 have yet to break ground in communities devastated by the fires.
The county wrote that the upgrades would achieve “critical goals,” including ensuring the system had enough water to meet “fire flow needs.” The estimated cost was less than $57 million and construction would have taken about seven years.
Plans to build tanks that would have provided more than 1 million gallons of additional water storage in fire-ravaged Malibu and Topanga were left on the drawing board. Replacements of “aging and severely deteriorated” water tanks were postponed, according to county records, along with upgrades to pumping stations and “leak prone” water lines in the two communities, whose water system is run by the county’s Department of Public Works, or DPW.
There is no way Karen Bass survives this, and Gavin Newsom is about to see his presidential ambitions torched if they haven’t already. Over 10 years of warning, these people did nothing, all while knowing that the area where Los Angeles resides is a wildfire hub when the conditions are right. Again, Bass left the city to attend the Ghanaian presidential inauguration when she knew wildfire conditions were high and didn’t mobilize or do anything regarding preparation.
The liberal narrative that there was enough water was already leaky. The pipe has completely burst here.
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