Money wasn't the issue. If you dig deeper the LAFD actually got an increase in budget like they have in previous years. Initially the proposed budget was a decrease but we do know the final budget gave LAFD an overall increase compared to the prior fiscal year.

The real culprit for this once in a generation catastrophe is a confluence of zero rain fall (It's been over 75 years since Los Angeles has had less rain during this period) and hurricane force Santa Ana winds that blow the opposite way of normal wind currents west to east from the ocean. When the high winds downed any air support on Tuesday night, there's no amount of increased budget that would prevent what took place. You also have to remember how spread out Los Angeles is and with 4+ fires starting within 48 hours of one another stretched resources thin. And logistically it takes 2+ days to get personnel and resources from outside the county, state and country to get to the affected areas. Right now there are water planes from Mexico and Canada in the fight as well as firefighters from many neighboring states.

Not that a single word of what I quoted from Fox News was inaccurate. The only bias being shown here is your knee-jerk bias against Fox being the messenger.

Try this instead. If only L.A. hadn't wasted so much money on frivolously catering to its most favoured special interest groups, the fire department's budget would not have had to be cut. There then would have been more money to hire additional firemen, repair out of service fire trucks and perhaps install more pumping capacity to increase water pressure when needed.

May I also remind you that municipal governments are elected to take care of municipal matters such as water, sanitation, garbage removal and roads and not to advance any kind of social agenda?

Only those who respect the taxpayers' dime which is a group it seems to which you don't belong.

Yes. I belong to the group that believes politicians should be accountable for their failures. That's my agenda.

It appears that yours is to make excuses for politicians wasting taxpayers' money so that less is available for what's really critical.

:mad:

Yeah, we should let those homeless people rot and not take care of them, especially if they're gay or trans. Sure, SOME of these expenses listed by FOX seem egregious, but that's probably true of the budget of any major city anywhere, or state, or the federal government, regardless of the political leanings of the leadership. And as AJ posted, I don't think there's been any showing of any causal connection here. Nor has there been any showing that all the money spent on these programs would have gone to firefighting, there are probably lots of departments competing for city funds.

There is a wide reasonable chasm between funding drug needles for abusing illegal substances and transgender cafes for homeless people and not giving a rats ass. I'd love to stop having my money spent on the dumbest anti-science shit and enabling drug addicts. There is plenty of tax money to solve the real, actual problems in this state, from fires to homeless.

Perhaps you are skeptical of the CDC, and in some areas there is reason to be, but according to them, and probably many other agencies, needle exchange programs benefit more than the "abusers."


https://www.cdc.gov/syringe-services...php/index.html

Oh?!

What? She flew out to beat the windstorm which might impede her ability to fly out? And what is a municipal politician doing at the inauguration of a foreign head of state anyway? Her job is to look after things like roads and sewers.

And I'm very tired of apologists for the misuse of public funds by elected representatives.

:mad:

California's policy has been to facilitate homelessness by enabling those with substance abuse and psychiatric problems to squat on city, i.e. taxpayers', property! Letting a problem spread is no way to fight it.

It doesn't seem Ontario is doing much better. What do you suggest?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...bers-1.7426934

Don't think I ever argued that there were misused funds. I'd be open to seeing evidence thereof and would be against it as well. Fact of the matter is, the Mayor being out of the country when the fires started and the LAFD budget had no bearing whatsoever on the cause and outcome of this catastrophe. But the citizens of LA appreciate everyone's empathy and any help you can give to those affected would be much appreciated. At the very least the American Red Cross had to cancel dozens of blood drives and is always in need of blood donations. If you have extra funds and want to donate, my son's science teacher, his wife and two young kids lost their house in Altadena. https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-alta...3a20a2300fd527

Okay, done.

:)

Yes, he's perfectly OK. That guy he is fed up with has been on net54 a long time, but is a know it all, who, like others on this forum, takes a contradictory stand on everything.

Never mind, not worth it.

No offense but if I have statements from the Pacific Palisades City Councilwoman and the LA Fire Chief (both made months before the fires started) as well as a respected organization all saying that the LAFD is underfunded, I will believe them before I believe any argument you can make.

Yes, thanks (although you're probably just being facetious :)). I am so tired of that opinionated loudmouth. He's so full of himself that he thinks everyone needs to hear his opinions on every single topic under the sun. The good news is, finally other people are seeing it, too. I have never come across a grown man who craves attention as much as he does, and I'm done with it.

I don't doubt there are positive health impacts from giving heroin junkies needles so they get less disease. I don't think, like most people in the US, that the government should be subsidizing the drug habits of illegal substances at all. "Abusers" in quotes is pretty funny though. I'm sure the heroin junky shooting up with a California paid for needle isn't an abuser of illegal substances :rolleyes:. This board lol

Good eye! I hadn't even noticed that yet.

:)

A very curious use of quotation marks indeed.

:rolleyes:

"The LAFD budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year of $837 million was also dwarfed by the city’s homeless budget of $1.3 billion." See Note below for URL.

What? really? You're telling me that hard working families, businesses, and homeowners have to take a back seat to the homeless? That is a sign of incompetence. I am willing to help homeless but not at the expense of safety for the men and women who are out there being productive.

Oh, and since I work downtown near skid row, I know first hand that the $1.3 billion has really turned that place around. NOT. I have to wonder where that money is really going.

Note:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...b9d0e6b5&ei=10

Well, sure, in one sense they are of course abusing but the term can have a very pejorative and contemptuous connotation implying some sort of moral failing, at least as I have heard it, and that may not necessarily be warranted in some cases.

I'm sure the people shooting up heroin with taxpayer funded clean needles are guilty of no moral failing and are not always abusers of the illegal and deadly substance they are injecting into themselves. What a horrible implication it would be to suggest otherwise or to have contempt for the losers shooting up on the sidewalk :rolleyes:.


Perhaps one day California will deal with actual problems instead of this kind of crap, but I doubt it. Subsidizing illegal drug use and denying human biology are higher up the priority list because reasons.

It's not nearly so simple as branding these people "losers" or morally deficient.


https://invisiblepeople.tv/how-homel...their%20escape.

All pretty surreal. Have numerous colleagues and friends who lost their homes.

I live in the hills of Studio City, just over the ridge from the Sunset Fire. I think we were fortunate because by the time the Sunset Fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills, the wind had calmed down considerably, which enabled the FD choppers to attack the fire from the air. Having the Hollywood Reservoir right there also helped with knocking that fire out with relative ease.

I think had the Sunset Fire started in the first 24-48 hours of this ordeal, when the winds were raging, Studio City and Hollywood likely would not have gone unscathed.

Adam, I am okay. Though I have 9 friends who lost homes. Thanks for asking. A tragic time.

Meanwhile, why is some Canadian dude crapping on my city while we suffer? He probably voted for Rob Ford.

Government funding is what it is. But tell me what a billion dollars more would have done to stop 80mph winds, grounded Super Scoopers (thanks Canada for helping!), and generationally dry conditions? Not a darn thing, that's what.

Let history be the judge if and where the blame should be laid. The current blame game only serves ideological division with its trollish, cherry-picked facts. Give it a rest.

Angelinos, hang in there. A few more days of this wind.

I agree, Dewey, and I am glad you are OK. We are too. We have family who evac'ed yesterday from the hills in Encino and we are all hoping that the winds reverse a bit and the fire doesn't crest the Santa Monica Mountains and burn down to the bottom.

I shake my head at the hubris of those who think there is any amount of spending that could have stopped these firestorms. We cannot control the winds or the rain. We have never had hurricane force Santa Ana winds (a category 1 is 75 mph; we topped out at 94 mph last week) during the middle of the driest 'rainy' season to date on record with single-digit humidity. I only know of one force that can intervene to stop that...and it ain't us puny mortals.

Mistakes were made but they had nothing to do with finance, and it is a control fantasy to think otherwise. They had to do with building in the middle of arroyos and box canyons. Those decisions date back a hundred years. I've been part of the construction defect litigation community for 30+ years and an open secret among us practitioners is that the hillsides of Los Angeles should never have been developed and are a disaster waiting to happen. The usual issues are landslides and slope failures, but fire is going to be the issue going forward.

Please keep a good thought for the people of this state the way we kept a good thought for the victims of the hurricanes a few months ago across the south and leave the feuding and political horseshit for some other time. It doesn't belong in this thread and is unseemly, peevish and cruel.

As usual, I agree completely with Adam.

A $100 billion dollar fire budget wouldn't have stopped what we have witnessed here in the last week, and there's a good chance it will be repeating in the next week.

Meanwhile, I was one of many who had their insurance coverage cancelled shortly before it might have been needed. Only a coincidence I'm sure.

Doug

Sorry to hear that Doug. How shameful.

I called addicts who need my tax dollars to pay for their drug needles losers, not homeless people. I'm sure heroin junkies are morally virtuous winners, and that pigs fly. I guess heroin junkies and homeless people are the same thing. This is beyond stupid.

It is shameful, but the fact that I spend as much time in this forum as I do shows that there are people with far worse problems than mine.

I have an idea.

Maybe we (including corporations) could just be a bit nicer to each other and maybe do what's right even though it's not always the absolute best thing for our individual (or corporate) bottom line?

I hear there's a book that makes a big deal about "do unto others".

Oh wait, that's not how the world actually works.

Even though a quite large percentage of people claim to follow that book, or others very much like it.

Ok, never mind.

Unbelievable, but I shouldn't be surprised, some are on here defending the absolute stupidity and utter incompetence of the California govt.

Has climate change been mentioned yet or orange man bad in this convo? That would also not surprise me.

If people would have been vaccinated and boosted, these forest fires likely would have never happened!!!! Wake up people!!!

https://x.com/JesseBWatters/status/1...Q26s%3D19&mx=2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfbU2L3Kjl4

+1

+3.
Anymore political crap in this thread is probably going to get deleted, followed by an impolite PM.
Thanks for the discussion otherwise.
Hopefully they will get the fires under control soon. It's hard to comprehend when seeing the pictures.
.
.

He was hardly the 1st one to make it political in this thread.

Thank you, Leon.

People are losing everything including their lives in some cases, and yet here's another thread turned shit show due to political opinion. It's insane.

A few posts up from yours, I asked to keep the politics out of this thread (per forum rules, everyone knows them)
Can you help me understand how you accomplished that with your statement?
thanks


And thoughts and prayers to all those affected.
.

Personal attacks calling people fucking twats are cool though. :)

The intended purpose of the thread was to check in with people living in the LA area. You and others high jacked the thread and turned it into a political debate--shame on you!
We evacuated on Wednesday morning when the fires were getting close to us. I returned Friday and my wife and dog returned yesterday. While we have been very fortunate, so far over 10,000 of our friends and neighbors have been less fortunate. For them we say a prayer.

I didn't see your post when I posted my response.

Have plenty more to say on the matter...but...moving on.

This is not the place for it.

I feel for everybody who is being affected by this disaster. This is a horrible situation all around, and I can only hope it can bring people together to overcome this tragedy.

One of the first pics I took of Lake and Morada area early Wednesday morning around 5am, a full 11 hours after the fire started. No firetucks or firemen were in this area for at least a mile in all directions.

Embers flying everywhere due to the strong winds.

Dozens of houses on fire

Fence on fire due to falling embers

.

..

I was concerned that my car would catch on fire so I left the area.

.,

.,.

View from space of all the homes on fire in Altadena. Wednesday evening.

I felt deep sadness seeing so many homes go up in flames.

I can't imagine what that must be like.

One theory I heard was that the fire started by heavy winds that cut power lines. Here's a pic near where the Eaton fire started.

Eaton fire is believed to be started by downed power lines. Here is actual photo of the fire near the power lines around 6pm on Tuesday, Jan 7, 2024.