California Fires

[BushMasterBoy]

I rarely post two consecutive posts. This news broadcast is saying looting is occurring. IT IS SAD!

[Great-Kazoo]

Heard Adam Carolla on the radio today. He said something like this might (a big might) pus those affected in CA to vote R come state election time. Calling the fires a wake up call to those who have supported politicians who have failed them. Considering they have voted D for decades, he "believes" the lack of fire response could be a turning point for the state.

[BPTactical]

The causative factors go back a few decades than current history.
Liberals and their “environmental” policies
Poor fire mitigation practices.
Poor open space management
Poor forestry management
Poor building practices
Poor disaster planning
Poor hiring practices (it goes back a bunch further than current “DEI”)

[Jer]

There's some people on this forum that give Republicans a real bad name. Is it the proximity to the devastation or just a hatred for Democrats that makes people think this sort of thing is acceptable? Why must everything be politicized? If you insist on making this about politics, maybe you should realize that there's LOTS of Republicans affected by this too... Not that it should matter. More importantly, they're all human beings with families & goals. This isn't debating election results... it's human lives being destroyed. Acting as if they somehow deserved it is pretty gross. Even for this bunch. Perhaps some here need to reference the thread about the recent and more local Superior fire to regain some perspective and compassion for fellow humans in the middle of ongoing devastation. Threads like this are the type of senseless & blind hatred of others that provides credence to those who call the Republican party the party of hate.

[eddiememphis]

There's some people on this forum that give Republicans a real bad name. Is it the proximity to the devastation or just a hatred for Democrats that makes people think this sort of thing is acceptable? Why must everything be politicized? If you insist on making this about politics, maybe you should realize that there's LOTS of Republicans affected by this too... Not that it should matter. More importantly, they're all human beings with families & goals. This isn't debating election results... it's human lives being destroyed. Acting as if they somehow deserved it is pretty gross. Even for this bunch. Perhaps some here need to reference the thread about the recent and more local Superior fire to regain some perspective and compassion for fellow humans in the middle of ongoing devastation. Threads like this are the type of senseless & blind hatred of others that provides credence to those who call the Republican party the party of hate.

There are very real consequences for bad policy. This is one of them.

Feeling bad for people affected doesn't change that.

Heard Adam Carolla on the radio today. He said something like this might (a big might) pus those affected in CA to vote R come state election time. Calling the fires a wake up call to those who have supported politicians who have failed them. Considering they have voted D for decades, he "believes" the lack of fire response could be a turning point for the state.

I doubt it.

The Democrats will promise more government will protect the citizens better. The reason for this catastrophe is not enough money spent on more and larger government. They can protect you from everything, given enough resources.

And voters will fall for it like they have throughout time.

[Hummer]

According to this morning's CBS news report
The Marshall Fire had the same problem with the water supply and the water processing plant bypassed the processing and allowed unprocessed water to be used in the fire hydrant system.
That helped the fire fighting, but the clean-up of the system took a long time.
Water usage had to be limited and water boiled before domestic use.
The plant manager shared the information with his counterparts in California, but had not been informed if they tried the same type of emergency relief.

The county, state and media politicos declared Marshall Fire to be fueled due to global warming when in fact it was the failure of government to plan and execute fire mitigation design into the areas affected. The failure of government is equally as responsible in California.

[theGinsue]

There's some people on this forum that give Republicans a real bad name. Is it the proximity to the devastation or just a hatred for Democrats that makes people think this sort of thing is acceptable? Why must everything be politicized? If you insist on making this about politics, maybe you should realize that there's LOTS of Republicans affected by this too... Not that it should matter. More importantly, they're all human beings with families & goals. This isn't debating election results... it's human lives being destroyed. Acting as if they somehow deserved it is pretty gross. Even for this bunch. Perhaps some here need to reference the thread about the recent and more local Superior fire to regain some perspective and compassion for fellow humans in the middle of ongoing devastation. Threads like this are the type of senseless & blind hatred of others that provides credence to those who call the Republican party the party of hate.

There are very real consequences for bad policy. This is one of them.

Feeling bad for people affected doesn't change that.


The Democrats will promise more government will protect the citizens better. The reason for this catastrophe is not enough money spent on more and larger government. They can protect you from everything, given enough resources.

And voters will fall for it like they have throughout time.

The county, state and media politicos declared Marshall Fire to be fueled due to global warming when in fact it was the failure of government to plan and execute fire mitigation design into the areas affected. The failure of government is equally as responsible in California.

I feel very bad for all of those adversely affected by these fires, but the responsibility for the severity of these fires is 100% political.


Instead of prioritizing efforts to reduce the risks associated with fire or to spend funds to mitigate the inevitable effects of fires, the politicians reduced the funds for fire mitigation & fire fighting resources. They decided that the money was better spent on their feel good political agendas*(see below for just SOME of the wasteful spending [with links] - and because of this, the people are paying dearly. Many of these people are responsible for electing the the decision makers into office, some are not.

Then, you've got the liberal law enforcement/prosecution policies that exacerbate the problem. Arson is suspected (due to evidence collected) in at least 1 of these devastating fires. Yesterday citizens captured a homeless man with a blow torch that at least 1 person witnessed trying to start more fires. In fact, this homeless man was in close proximity of where at least 1 of these devastating fires started. Police took him into custody and he was released within hours. What's the likelihood this individual will just stop his attempts to light more fires? I postulate that such a presumption has a slim probability. The continued liberal catch & release or simply turning a blind eye to criminal behavior put in place by the liberal politicians in/around LA & CA bears a lot of responsibility for what the citizens are having to deal with.

As Eddiememphis said, "There are very real consequences for bad policy. This is one of them.".

So yes, while this situation is tragic and I feel horribly for those effected, this is 100% political, like it or not.


*
In the 2023-2024 fiscal year, Los Angeles spent $599 million of its $1.3 billion homelessness budget.

Dec 11, 2024 - LA wasted 218 million on unused beds for homeless.

For the 2023-2024 fiscal year, Los Angeles budgeted $837 million for the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), which was roughly 65% the size of the homeless budget of $1.3 billion.

- This is just LA and not even the money spent by the state of CA. Has this corrected or even visibly improved the homeless situation in Los Angeles? No.

Los Angeles Fire (only) spent $1.7 MILLION from their latest budget on DEI programs instead of Fire mitigation & control efforts. - How does DEI protect the citizens from the effects of fire? Answer: It doesn't.

Los Angeles Fire Hydrants offline & Reservoir Empty



Denying the root cause of the severity of these fires won't bring back peoples homes any more than calling out the bad policies. But, when people are ready to wake up and see what their decisions have brought them to, perhaps they can do better with appropriate policies and political choices moving forward.

[Hummer]

There's some people on this forum that give Republicans a real bad name. Is it the proximity to the devastation or just a hatred for Democrats that makes people think this sort of thing is acceptable? Why must everything be politicized? If you insist on making this about politics, maybe you should realize that there's LOTS of Republicans affected by this too... Not that it should matter. More importantly, they're all human beings with families & goals. This isn't debating election results... it's human lives being destroyed. Acting as if they somehow deserved it is pretty gross. Even for this bunch. Perhaps some here need to reference the thread about the recent and more local Superior fire to regain some perspective and compassion for fellow humans in the middle of ongoing devastation. Threads like this are the type of senseless & blind hatred of others that provides credence to those who call the Republican party the party of hate.

I agree with the sentiment, but it's important to realize that the Democrats anti business/anti capitalist policies come from a marxist construct that heralds central control and the denial of human rights to life, liberty, and property.

Still, as a lifelong Republican grievously disgusted by the failures of GOP politicians, I think if CA and CO were magically governed by 100% Republican governors and legislators, I think little would change regarding fire mitigation that affects all citizens.

[BushMasterBoy]

In Colorado, according to state law, you can use lethal force if you reasonably believe someone is attempting to commit first-degree arson on your property, even if you are not defending yourself or another person; this is the only situation where defending property with deadly force is allowed in Colorado.

[BPTactical]