Author | Lightnews

Reposted by Jay Balagna

CAL FIRE @calfire.bsky.social · Jan 17

Residents impacted by the Southern California wildfires can now access information about the status of their property through CAL FIRE's damage inspection maps. While inspections are ongoing, information—including images—is being uploaded daily to keep communities informed.
#LAfires

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Jay Balagna @jaybalagna.bsky.social · Jan 17

I used to be a helitack firefighter. This story scared the hell out of me. Great writing from Thomas Fuller and @nytimes.com. I've known LACoFD Air Ops are giants in the field, but this really shows how elite they are--and the danger of what we saw last week.

The Terrifying Ride of Copter 17

A former Army pilot. An aging helicopter. Furious winds. The race to put out the Eaton fire tested Los Angeles County’s night-flying firefighters like never before.

www.nytimes.com

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Daniel Swain @weatherwest.bsky.social · Jan 9

Is there a link between #ClimateChange & increasing risk/severity of #wildfire in California--including the still-unfolding disaster? Yes. Is climate change the only factor at play? No, of course not. So what's really going on? [Thread] #CAfire #CAwx #LAfires iopscience.iop.org/a...

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Michael S. Pollard @sociologian.bsky.social · Jan 16

RAND colleague and former firefighter @jaybalagna.bsky.social : "A system built on luck is not a durable system. It is already strained, and it risks breaking down in a world of greater and more frequent wildfires."
www.rand.org/pubs/comment...

The L.A. Fires Show a Need to Rethink Our Wildland Firefighting Systems

The wildland firefighting system is based on resource-sharing across local, state and federal agencies. But in a world of greater and more frequent wildfires, change is needed.

www.rand.org

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Jay Balagna @jaybalagna.bsky.social · Jan 16

I've seen people say the homes lost were movie stars and rich tech folks. Plenty of people of means lost homes. But so did plenty of people living modest lives. If the American Dream still exists, it was alive in places like Altadena. A great piece from the @jessicagelt.bsky.social and @latimes.com

Los Angeles Times @latimes.com · Jan 16

For a particular creative community, Altadena represented one of the last great affordable places in L.A. to raise a family. The Eaton fire left those homes in ashes, and destroyed one vision of the L.A. dream.

How Altadena became the L.A. dream for Gen X and millennial artists, writers, musicians

For a particular creative community, Altadena represented one of the last great affordable places in L.A. to raise a family. The Eaton fire left those homes in ashes, and destroyed one vision of the L.A. dream.

www.latimes.com

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Los Angeles Times @latimes.com · Jan 16

For a particular creative community, Altadena represented one of the last great affordable places in L.A. to raise a family. The Eaton fire left those homes in ashes, and destroyed one vision of the L.A. dream.

How Altadena became the L.A. dream for Gen X and millennial artists, writers, musicians

For a particular creative community, Altadena represented one of the last great affordable places in L.A. to raise a family. The Eaton fire left those homes in ashes, and destroyed one vision of the L.A. dream.

www.latimes.com

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Steve Pyne @sjpyne.bsky.social · Jan 11

A thoughtful meditation and reminder of the scale of the reforms needed.It's not just that people are moving into fire-prone lands; in Mediterranean Europe the problem is people moving out of fire-prone lands.It's not where you live but how you live on the land. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/11/o...

Opinion | The Best Time to Fireproof Los Angeles Was Yesterday

Can a city lose an entire neighborhood now and simply shuffle on, dragging the local memory like a ghost limb?

www.nytimes.com

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Jay Balagna @jaybalagna.bsky.social · Jan 15

And thank you to my @rand.org colleagues and editors who support this work. The last week has been hard, but I'm happy to have a platform with them to do this work.

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Jay Balagna @jaybalagna.bsky.social · Jan 15

As bad as the fires in the Los Angeles area have been, they could have been even worse. We got lucky but a system built on luck is not a durable system. It is already strained, and it risks breaking down in a world of greater and more frequent wildfires. Thanks to @latimes.com for running my latest:

Opinion: L.A. was lucky, with lots of help fighting fires. But no one should count on luck

Local firefighting systems need more permanent, reliable employment, because sometimes neighboring communities, states and nations won't be able to lend resources.

www.latimes.com

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Vanessa Parks @vanessaparks.bsky.social · Jan 15

New commentary from @jaybalagna.bsky.social. Jay is a former firefighter, a thoughtful researcher, and an Angeleno. www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...

Opinion: L.A. was lucky, with lots of help fighting fires. But no one should count on luck

Local firefighting systems need more permanent, reliable employment, because sometimes neighboring communities, states and nations won't be able to lend resources.

www.latimes.com

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · Jan 14

I've been on lots of large fires in states red and blue. I've seen thousands of homes destroyed, ranging from small tailers housing a retiree on Social Security to large custom homes where the most wealthy among us live. I've talked to many who lost everything. 1/

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Jay Balagna @jaybalagna.bsky.social · Jan 14

Safety inspections like this wouldn’t have helped them, but they form a small part of the ways we try to make sure we don’t have to name more stretches of highway for firefighters. I have no patience for the bad-faith, purposeful misunderstanding of this to score political points.

Jay Balagna @jaybalagna.bsky.social · Jan 14

An engine rollover killed a friend and fellow firefighter in 2016 outside the town where I grew up and near the station I spent my first four fire seasons living and working in. A stretch of Highway 140 in Nevada is named for Jacob O’Malley and Will Hawkins now. They were on their way home.

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Jay Balagna @jaybalagna.bsky.social · Jan 14

This is good and important and I have been sickened by the misinformation on it this week. Even the dire situation we see in LA can spare a few moments for firefighter safety. Vehicle accidents are the leading cause of emergency responser line-of-duty deaths. I have a personal stake in this, too…

CAL FIRE @calfire.bsky.social · Jan 14

Hundreds of out-of-state or country resources are already in Southern California assisting in these historic fires. The first stop for these resources is to visit a California Mobile Equipment Facility to go through a safety and mechanical inspection.  youtube.com/shorts/InA33...

Out-of-State Fire Engines Get Inspections, but no SMOG check

YouTube video by CAL FIRE TV

youtube.com

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Aaron Clark-Ginsberg @aclarkginsberg.bsky.social · Jan 14

Here’s some of the bite-sized thinking that @jaybalagna.bsky.social, @jimwhittington.bsky.social, and I have been doing on wildfires over the years (🧵 1/n)

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Jay Balagna @jaybalagna.bsky.social · Jan 14

Thanks to Aaron Clark-Ginsberg for leading this commentary and letting me contribute to it, and thank you to @rand.org and our collaborators outside the organization for the help and support.

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Jay Balagna @jaybalagna.bsky.social · Jan 14

"America's structural and wildland fire response systems were never intended to address blazes at the scale and complexity witnessed today."

The wildfire crisis demands long-term thinking that focuses decades into the future. www.rand.org/pubs/comment...

The Los Angeles Fires and the Need for Long-Term Strategy Building Wildland Fire Resilience

The fires in Los Angeles highlight an urgent need for policy reforms in land management and community preparedness. Without sustained investment and effort, future disasters are inevitable.

www.rand.org

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · Jan 13

Since the LA fires started, I've seen some great writing and outstanding media appearances by good people I know personally or through their work. Everyone is doing their best while being caught up in the swarm of mis- and dis-info. 1/

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The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · Jan 13

Wildland firefighters face a big pay cut if Congress doesn’t act − that’s taking a toll on a workforce already under stress

Firefighters work long hours to protect communities, often in dangerous conditions and for low starting pay. Surveys show the impact that can have on their physical and mental health.

buff.ly

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Keri Blakinger @keribla.bsky.social · Jan 12

The belief was that urban fires no longer exist, but they’ve come back. “It’s like watching polio return,” he said. “It’s happening repeatedly.””

Ooof

www.latimes.com/california/s...

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Jay Balagna @jaybalagna.bsky.social · Jan 12

It’s so hard to balance. You’re navigating it all gracefully, though

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Jay Balagna @jaybalagna.bsky.social · Jan 12

This is a fantastic quote in this @latimes.com piece today. I’ve been trying to say some version of this to people for the last few days www.latimes.com/california/s...

Reposted by Jay Balagna

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · Jan 9

Global climate change worsens disasters, but blaming climate change alone deflects responsibility from effective local governance, infrastructure, and warning systems to multinational corporations and international climate mitigation efforts. Time to re-read @frediotto.bsky.social.

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · Jan 11

Whenever a wildland fire hits the national news & all the Internet fire experts/explainer bros show up, you can bet they have no understanding of scale, topography, fuel types, fire behavior, decision-making in a time-constrained environment, or how things have changed over the last 25 years.

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Laura J. Nelson @laurajnelson.bsky.social · Jan 11

And now, for something a little more lighthearted, here's @marymac22.bsky.social on a new and uniquely L.A. phenomenon: water-drop fan cams.

"To a city reeling with loss, water drop videos are “Battle of Britain” and Snoopy beating the Red Baron."

www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

Column: For Angelenos suffering fire fatigue, ace water drop videos are sweet revenge

Videos of fire-fighting pilots nailing flames with miraculous precision have given Angelenos something to root for during a week of shock, terror and grief.

www.latimes.com

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