Fires rage, criminals loot, DEI politicians defer, as Southern California has its most expensive disaster so far

View of Palisades fire from Downtown Los Angeles
(Photo by Toastt21 via Wikipedia)

The fire damage in Southern California has been extensive and continues. Here is a report from the BBC:

What’s the latest on the Los Angeles wildfires and what caused them?

12 January 2025

At least 16 people have died in the Los Angeles fires as four blazes continue to cause devastation across the sprawling Californian city. …

About 35,000 homes and businesses are without electricity, according to Poweroutage.us, an outage monitor that tracks blackouts across the US.

It comes as police confirmed more than 20 arrests have been made for looting after two individuals were caught posing as firefighters and entering properties. …

The largest fire in the Palisades is now more than 20,000 acres, although firefighters have made modest progress in increasing containment.

The fire is moving east, threatening the exclusive neighbourhood of Brentwood, home to the Getty Center, a world-famous art museum that has now been evacuated. …

More than 12,000 structures have been razed by the fires. By structures, officials mean homes, outbuildings, sheds, mobile homes and cars.

More than 7,000 structures have been destroyed by the Eaton fire.

The Palisades fire has destroyed about 5,300 structures, including at least 426 houses. …

Was LA prepared for the fires?

A political row about the city’s preparedness has erupted after it emerged that some fire crews’ hoses ran dry.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has called for an independent investigation into the loss of water pressure to hydrants and why the Santa Ynez Reservoir was closed for maintenance and empty when the fire broke out.

“Losing supplies from fire hydrants likely impaired the effort to protect some homes and evacuation corridors,” he wrote.

Fact-checking criticism of California Democrats over fires

Mayor Karen Bass returned to the city from a previously arranged trip to Ghana to find it on fire. She has faced intense questions about the region’s preparedness, her leadership in this crisis, and the water issues.

On Saturday, she deflected questions about her handling of the emergency, telling a news conference: “Right now, our first and most important obligation to Angelenos is to get through this crisis.”

Before the fires broke out, the city of LA’s fire chief warned in a memo that budget cuts were hampering the department’s ability to respond to emergencies.

Also on Saturday, LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone separately denied that his department had been unprepared.

“I did everything in my power to make sure that we had enough personnel and resources before the first fire started,” he said.

“It wasn’t for a lack of preparation or decision-making that resulted in this catastrophe. It was a natural disaster,” Marrone added. …

Lightning – the most common source of fires in the US – has been ruled out as a cause for the Palisades and Eaton fires.

Nor has there been any official indication so far that arson or utility lines – the next two biggest culprits in sparking fires – caused any of the conflagrations. …

Although strong winds and lack of rain are driving the blazes, experts say climate change is altering the background conditions and increasing the likelihood of such fires.

Much of the western United States including California experienced a decades-long drought that ended just two years ago, making the region vulnerable. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyxypryrnko

No, Los Angeles was not as prepared as it could have been. And it has been estimated to cost $150 billion to recover, if that is even possible.

Let me add that the BBC report neglected to mention that arson may have been involved and that several have been questioned for that. BBC did mention climate change, so as far as climate matters go, notice:

US Geological Survey scientist Jon Keeley: ‘L.A. Fires Not The Result Of Climate Change’ –
Scrubland plant ‘fires have been around for at least 20 million years. What’s changed is we have people on the landscape’ https://www.climatedepot.com/2025/01/09/fed-scientist-l-a-fires-not-climate-change-studies-data-show-climate-not-linked-to-california-wildfires/

Wildfires happen every year. But what has been happening in the Los Angeles basin has been horrific.

Back in 2017, I warned:

Parts of California still are on fire and at least 100,000 people have been evacuated … I, who also live in California, also pray that those in California will repent as worse problems are ahead if it continues to go in a moral direction away from the Bible. (Thiel B. California evacuates 100,000 due to wildfires; Hurricane Ophelia affects Azores and Ireland. COGwriter, October 14, 2017)

Fires should get people to consider. But will people in California, the USA, or the other Anglo-descended areas heed? … The sorrows and troubles are just beginning and will get much worse. (Thiel B. California Governor warns President Trump about ‘the wrath of God’ and claims destructive fires are the ‘new normal’. COGwriter, December 10, 2017)

Administratively, the State of California did NOT take the steps it should have which has made the situation much worse than it otherwise could have been. Notice also the following:

January 12, 2025

LA Times warned: “The Palisades fire can now be seen across Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, an unsettling development as officials worried about the fire expanding into neighborhoods in Encino and Brentwood and possibly jumping the 405 freeway into Bel Air.” …

Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass find themselves in the hot seat as their own liberal voter base turns against them, blaming the radical politicians for the spread of fire due to their massive mismanagement of budgets.

A Fox News report found that Newsom slashed funding for wildfire and forest resilience by more than $100 million last year. He signed the budget covering the 2024-25 fiscal year in June.

Even the left-leaning USA Today reported that new budget documents showed the mayor reduced the Los Angeles Fire Department’s budget from $837 million in fiscal year 2024 to $819 million in fiscal year 2025.

In December, LAFD sent a report to the mayor and city council warning that ” these budgetary reductions have adversely affected the Department’s ability to maintain core operations.”

The destruction caused by the wildfires is about twice the size of Manhattan, and growing, and in our view, will be a political disaster for both Newsom and Bass. … Also, all of this proves that you can not rely on gov’t. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/palisades-inferno-forces-more-evacuations-burns-near-405-freeway

January 12, 2025

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass, used the typical Democratic Party playbook to deflect from the incompetence (DEI = DIE) of California politicians, using talking points that described California wildfires as “what a climate emergency looks like.” https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/palisades-fire-threatens-new-upscale-communities-santa-ana-winds-return

LA Fire Chief is being hailed as the first female and LGBTQ fire chief in Los Angeles. She says her priority is DEI.

Here she is waving a pride flag at a pride parade while dressed in uniform. pic.twitter.com/E2mjsGN2KK

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 8, 2025

This is borderline criminal.

How does she still have a job? pic.twitter.com/GJv1plfC47

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 11, 2025

California officials knew:

There was a drought.
There was a lot of flammable vegetation.
The weather forecast was for high Santa Ana winds which whip up fires.
A major reservoir was emptied.
There were issues with the fire hydrants.

Knowing all of that, the routine reservoir maintenance should have been postponed and the reservoir not drained, dry brush should have been removed, and fire hydrants fixed, among other things.

The DEI hires, promotion of the LGBTQ+ agenda, and poor planning by California officials brought to mind the following:

9 The look on their countenance witnesses against them,
And they declare their sin as Sodom;
They do not hide it.
Woe to their soul!
For they have brought evil upon themselves.

10 “Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them,
For they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
11 Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,
For the reward of his hands shall be given him.
12 As for My people, children are their oppressors,
And women rule over them.
O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err,
And destroy the way of your paths.” (Isaiah 3:9-12)

¹⁶For the leaders of this people cause them to err, And those who are led by them are destroyed (Isaiah 9:16).

In addition to governmental issues, notice also the following:

January 12, 2025

At least 20 arrests have been made for looting. Among them were two looters who posed as firefighters when entering houses, according to the police.

Officials have imposed a mandatory curfew in evacuation zones as well as in the city of Santa Monica, which is next to Pacific Palisades.

California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has doubled the deployment of the state’s national guard to Los Angeles amid the wildfires. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/jan/12/california-fires-death-toll-expected-rise-ucla-threatened-winds-latest-updates

The looting, and looters pretending to be firefighters, brought to mind the following:

1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, (2 Timothy 3:1-4)

The Bible shows that weather problems can be a warning to people that society is going in the wrong direction (Amos 4:7-12). Notice also God’s use of fire between three thousand and four thousand years ago:

24 Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. (Genesis 19:24-25)

And why did it happen?

7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. (Jude 7)

Why mention this in the 21st century? Because God turned:

6…the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly (2 Peter 2:6)

Notice also the following:

11 “I overthrew some of you,
As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
And you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
Says the Lord.

12 “Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel;
Because I will do this to you,
Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!” (Amos 4:11-12)

Fires should get people to consider. But will people in the USA or the other Anglo-descended areas heed?

The sorrows and troubles are just beginning and will get much worse.

We just uploaded the following related video:

14:31

Fires and God’s Wrath

There have been massive fires raging in the State of California. The size and devastation of this fire qualifies it as a world event–and looks to be one of the costliest disasters in US history. What might the Bible have to say about fires? Is it possible that there are Biblical ramifications of fires? Especially fires of this magnitude and destruction. If there are any Biblical ramifications, what is God be trying to say? Is it possible that fires of this magnitude have any relationship to the warnings God gave ancient Israel and are having an impact on us today? If so, why would the warnings given to ancient Israel have any effect on us? What do we have to do with ancient Israel? Dr. Thiel shines the light of Bible prophecy on these questions. By quoting several scriptures that relate directly to the questions just presented, Dr. Thiel reveals the warnings God is giving humanity in these end times. Dr. Thiel shows us, through the word of God, that by obeying the words of God, we can stop the destruction. Even if we fail on a national level, we can still succeed on a personal level.