Op-Ed: LA fires — Where is the US government? Who’s doing what, and when?

At least five people have been confirmed killed in the fires. — © AFP

The LA fires are truly horrific (This is a direct link to Google News coverage for updates.)  

Miraculously, only a few people have died. That’s a huge, almost impossible achievement in such a big city. LAFD is doing it all with almost nothing. The city is virtually surrounded. Some areas are literally obliterated. There’s nothing left in many of the burnt-out places.

Lack of water isn’t helping. LA like most of the southwest has had water problems for decades. Those problems are now coming back to bite.

Power outages also aren’t helping. The numbers reported for power outages are chaotic, and increasing with time.

Something else isn’t helping, either. America’s spectator politics are as destructive as ever in a crisis. In a classic American political stupor, not much seems to be happening.

LA needed help 2 days ago.

Where is it?

Why wasn’t it in the air 24 hours ago?

They need support on the ground.

Use the air force, engineers, spitballs, whatever.

They do NOT need smug little press releases.  

Canada has already sent help with water bombers. Pretty nice of them, given somebody’s brainless recent comments.

Doesn’t look like the political USeless of A is doing much if anything.

There are some unimpressive mutterings in the news from 12 hours ago. Not real support, just FEMA grants and Biden is apparently trying to deliver some assistance.

So another country is already sending practical help, and the USA isn’t?

There must be more to it than that, surely.

This slowness and comatose response may turn out to be worse than the fires.

Hurricane Katrina didn’t do New Orleans any favors, but the aftermath was arguably worse and went on for many years.

This could be LA’s Hurricane Katrina, festering on into the next decade. Not too reassuring, is it?  A few billion have just gone up in smoke, and it’s not going to get better with talk.

I’m Australian. The LA fires have an unholy look of being far too much like our big fires in 2018. Lack of action wasn’t an option. Every second is critical with such big fires. There is no excuse for slowness.

There is no time for stuffing about with anything but fighting the fires.

Stop talking and do your jobs for a change.

Good luck, LA.

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The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.