Here’s the view from my front door last night. Grateful to be safe in Chicago, continuing to pray for the city.
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I lived here in Chicago from 2003-2014, grateful to be back. The snow is a comfort compared to the fires.
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Woke up to the glow from the Palisades fire today. That put my stomach in knots, even though it is pretty far.
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Visiting the Prisoners California Uses to Fight Wildfires
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Hope other folks are dealing with the stress and trauma of this disaster. My family and I are still not back home. Trying to figure out how to get our house cleaned properly due to having a baby at home.
Thanks to those that have donated to other folks in need.
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Has anyone heard from @ddiamond84?
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Yes he has posted on other threads that he is fine. He also doesn’t live that close to either fire, I believe
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Don’t know if you’ve seen this page, but it looks like it has some info. I swear I saw something somewhere about there being state-funded cleanup options but Idk where I saw it.
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He’s okay—just saw him post that he’s safe last night.
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Thank you so much for asking. This board is one of the very few that pay attention enough and are thoughtful enough to ask something like this unsolicited. I really appreciate it and everyone.
I’m ok and my family is ok. I’m not terribly far from the fires, but at night time if I step outside on the street, I would never know fires are raging if it wasn’t on the news.
It’s surreal to know the city is in a state of unprecedented emergency, and see so much of the city looking and behaving like any other day. Not in a callous way or anything, LA is just an unusual place like that. The impact will definitely be felt by everyone in Los Angeles though, at some point; remains to be seen in what ways.
I have an endless supply of anger and resentment for the people who run this country, and how we are at the mercy of a ruling class that is divorced from any substantial consequence of their actions. I’m also hopeful and love seeing how people are trying to help each other. Therapists offering pro bono services and doing what they can is something I am proud to see and be a part of!
Thanks again for checking in.
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Glad you are ok @ddiamond84 (one of few 'nauts I’ve met in person).
The damage is pretty unbelievable. For those interested, here’s a list of musicians affected by the fires:
Including (among many others Bennie Maupin (of Miles Davis’ band and many mighty ECM records; and lots of electronic musicians you may know.)
Obvs, the fire has affected so many other people too - but thought this board might be thematically interested/moved so I thought I’d share. Love to you all!
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How LA will rebuild incorrectly after fire…
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Mike Davis, “Let Malibu Burn”, LA Weekly, 1996. I think this became a chapter in his 1998 book “City of Quartz”. Davis is essential reading on LA, yet almost thirty years later, the wrong decisions are going to be made yet again.
https://la.indymedia.org/news/2007/10/208946.php
As with so many issues, there seems to never be time for proper analysis. When there is a crisis, “this is not the time for politics”. When there isn’t a crisis, no one has time for this kind of talk, because people are preoccupied with, well, other crises.
[Edit: further reading on this, Stephen Pyne, mentioned in the linked article above, excellent on both fire and ice, and Norman Maclean’s “Young Men And Fire”, a nuanced account of one isolated fatal incident that calls into question much forest management policy.]
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I will refrain from any more “armchair punditry”, but in what I cited, the discussion of “forest management” is not a right-wing talking point; it is, if anything, left-wing and conservationist in a non-interventionist and non-exploitative sense, rather than modern conservative. And while I might be in a chair as I type this, the people I cited are on the streets and in the forests. (Well, not Mike Davis currently; he died in 2022.)
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Thank you for saying this. Was gonna say the same thing. If you don’t live here, please don’t share opinions about what to do as if you have any idea what’s going on. Seriously.
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Oh you’re talking about me! Well hello! the guy on the vid I posted actually lives in Los Ángeles, amigo. He was the same guy talking a couple of days ago with the prisoner firefighters that are on the frontline to combat the fire (also posted a few posts up). You should watch those two vids when you get the chance 
I understand the frustration and anger people have about non locals commenting on the situation in LA. I was born and raised here, we literally all comment constantly about situations and places we are far removed from. I understand people sharing their thoughts too, we all process in our own way. These fires are local and climate change is global and it’s a sign of what’s to come for many (everyone?)
We’re also one of the biggest economies within the biggest economies of the world, Los Angeles has global reach, relevance and impact. It’s on the news everywhere, the same way Paris or Berlin would be in a similar scenario. And lots of us would share unsolicited opinions and thoughts.
I think people post here in good faith by default, at least that’s why I like it here so much.
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Can we all please just get along, and stick to the original purpose of this post?
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It is unwise to ask to someone actually living this first hand to chill, or tell them what they have to do. And insensitive to antagonize them with passive aggressiveness.
@auditorycanvas is right. Please let this place be one of support and comradeship, without snarky comments.
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We are in a state of collective grief and trauma. My house is okay for now, but my wife and I are obsessively checking air/water quality and fear for our young children’s long term health. We love where we live, and that love is now burdened with grief and pain.
Please be kind.
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