But maybe you remember the Cedar Fire.
asserted
you → remember → Fire
It burned over 270,000 acres and over 2,800 structures.
asserted
It → burn → acres
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asserted
Sign → sign → California
A woman I had never met was crying in my arms.
asserted
I → meet → arms
She had just been let back into her neighborhood to see what was left of her house, which was the foundation and chimney.
asserted
which → let → house
More than 350 homes on that hillside were gone, burned to the ground.
asserted
homes → go → ground
Back in Washington, people were sitting in meetings.
asserted
people → sit → meetings
The White House was shaking up the new Department of Homeland Security.
asserted
House → shake → Security
I learned later that only one official was singled out by name for doing their job.
asserted
official → learn → job
The reason given was that I was in California working the wildfires while everyone else sat in Washington.
asserted
everyone → give → Washington
I was commended for being absent.
asserted
I → commend → ?
Two years, later Hurricane Katrina made landfall.
asserted
Katrina → make → landfall
You know how that turned out for me.
asserted
that → know → me
President Bush told the nation I was doing “a heck of a job.”
asserted
I → tell → job
The country looked at Katrina and came to a different conclusion.
asserted
country → look → conclusion
You learned my name the hard way.
asserted
You → learn → name
I own every bit of it.
asserted
I → own → it
But Washington never says something out loud that I want you to hear.
asserted
you → say → that
The federal government does not put out your fire.
asserted
government → put → fire
FEMA does not knock on your door at 2 a.m. and tell you to evacuate.
asserted
FEMA → knock → you
Disasters are answered from the bottom up.
asserted
Disasters → answer → bottom
Washington writes the checks and flies in to help coordinate.
asserted
Washington → write → checks
The people who save your life and protect your property are local.
asserted
who → save → property
Which is why California should be frightened of how its own house is currently run.
asserted
house → run → ?
In Pacific Palisades, a 117-million-gallon reservoir sat empty for nearly a year, out of service for repairs, while the fire ran downhill toward the Pacific.
asserted
fire → sit → Pacific
The hydrants went dry.
asserted
hydrants → go → ?
Investigators later concluded the city’s water system was never built to fight a firestorm that size.
asserted
system → conclude → firestorm
In Altadena, LA County’s own after-action review found that on the west side of town, where all the Eaton Fire’s deaths occurred, the evacuation alerts came hours late or never came at all.
asserted
alerts → find → town
People died on the side of the street.
asserted
People → die → street
And the mayor of LA was in Ghana when her city caught fire.
asserted
city → catch → fire
She later admitted the trip was a mistake.
asserted
trip → admit → ?
Twenty-two years separate that woman in crying in my arms from the families sifting the ash of Palisades and Altadena, but the story is the same.
asserted
story → separate → Palisades
In 2003, California asked Washington for money to fight the beetles killing its forests, got told no on a Friday, and watched the hills ignite that weekend.
asserted
hills → ask → Friday
Everyone except the firefighters reached for politics before they reached for a firehose.
asserted
they → reach → firehose
In 2025, the reservoir sat empty and the phones stayed silent.
asserted
phones → sit → 2025
Fire season comes every year almost on schedule, almost always.
asserted
season → come → schedule
And a generation of governors, mayors, county supervisors and city councils, of both parties, still act amazed when the fires come screaming down the hillside.
asserted
fires → act → hillside
Here is what should keep every Californian up at night.
asserted
keep → keep → night
Mother Nature has more than one move.
asserted
Nature → have → move
Forecasters are warning of a powerful El Niño this winter, the kind that shoves the tides up and the water in.
asserted
that → warn → tides
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
