Sunday, January 12, 2025

Crisis Management? What's That?

sd1002055 As I seem to keep pointing out here, I've worked in the disaster recovery and crisis management fields, and what puzzles me about the state and local response to the LA fires is the total ignorance by anyone in leadership, either at the political or operational level, of basic principles. For instance, there needs to be a central figure who can deliver regular and credible reports on what's being done, like the FBI's James Kallstrom with the TWA 800 explosion.

With no one competent available to fill this role, it's fallen to Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass. Both of them, rather than being available to answer questions, have hidden from the press and stonewalled or ducked obvious questions about the dry fire hydrants or the empty reservoir. A competent Kallstrom type would acknowledge the situation and go on to point out what's being tone to correct it. If necessary, he'd have the pull within the orgnization to insist that something in fact be done.

It isn't just me who's noticing this. Via the LA Times, which has been turnng itself around in recent weeks, Mary McNamara, an op=ed writer, details her frustration at trying to find any specific information on what was burning where:

I began what would turn into a 24-hour obsession with fire maps — on The Times website, the Watch Duty app, protect.genasys.com. None of which told me what I wanted to know: How fast was the fire moving toward my home and those of my friends and neighbors?

. . . But as evening approached and my fingers began to spasm from working my phone, I relented and turned on the television.

It was a huge mistake.

. . . The images were horrific, but they offered no information beyond what had already been provided by many news outlets, including and especially The Times, as well as hundreds of residents posting on social media. The anchors made the appropriate comments of shock and grief while I writhed in my seat wondering where all the various fire lines actually were at that moment.

Coverage was then interrupted by a press conference headed by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, ostensibly to provide updates on the various fires — including, presumably, Eaton. This crisis has not, by any measure, been Bass’ finest hour. She left the country despite warnings of upcoming high wind and fire risk conditions and returned to find the city ablaze. She has refused to answer questions and criticism about her departure, the city’s apparent lack of preparedness, reports of lag time between the eruption of the Palisades fire and a coordinated response and the clear under-staffing of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

I did not expect her to address any of these things at this press conference — she was in a crisis situation and this was not the time for that. I did, however, expect her to provide updates. You know, to tell us exactly what was going on. Maybe pull out some maps that revealed not just evacuation areas but some sense of actual fire lines. Discuss how much water and fire retardant had been dropped when and where, and whether it was proving effective. Something.

This didn't happen, and it's continued not to happen. After a couple of quiet days with no updates and the media starting to pull out, the Palisades fire begsnm to spread again Friday night, with new mandatory evacuations in Brentwood, another highly affluent area adjacent to Pacific Palisades. Again, there are no fire maps, no discussion of what's being done and whether anything is working.

What's remarkable is that Pacific Palisades and Brentwood are loci for the wealthy Democrat donors who virtue-signal their luxury beliefs. In fact, if the fire spreads to Brentwood, it could threaten to leap the 405 freeway, and if it does, it will spread to Beverly Hills and Bel Air. If you think there are expensive homes in Pacific Palisades and Brentwood, you ain't seen nothing. There are truly powerful people in Beverly Hills and Bel Air. I suspect they will not tolerate the fire spreading that far.

Remember it was these same donors who lost patience with Biden and demanded he drop out of the presidential race. Nancy Pelosi was just their catspaw. This appears to be the current situation:

Last night, the fire shifted eastward, threatening areas closer to the 405 freeway, including Mandeville Canyon, Brentwood, and potentially putting UCLA in its crosshairs. Firefighting efforts have been redirected to combat the eastward progression, with additional aircraft and strike teams deployed.

An evacuation warning has been issued for an area bordering UCLA’s campus, reaching the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Veteran Avenue, an intersection that directly borders the UCLA campus. While there is no immediate fire danger to the campus, the university is on high alert.

I don't think the powers that be will tolerate the fire spreading that far.

posted by test @ January 12, 2025   0 Comments