The Los Angeles firestorms continue to rage. At least 25 people have died, and more than 12,000 structures have been destroyed. More than 60 square miles have burned.
The National Weather Service said dangerous wind conditions are expected to continue at least into next week.
It's likely that the Los Angeles fires are already the costliest wildfires in the history of the United States.
These fires are unique in that they are tearing through one of the most densely populated cities in the country with some of the highest home values. Some experts say the fires are not going to be unique in the sense these massive infernos could be the new normal.
Wildland firefighter and The Nation contributor Lazo Gitchos, who has studied and worked in land management policy argues that the LA fire disaster is a wake-up call. He says the firefighting playbook was written for a world that no longer exists. And he says: "It’s Time to Rethink Everything About How We Fight Fires."
Above the fray of the pundits and political finger-pointing, Gitchos argues we need a new approach to fighting fire—one that emphasizes preparedness over suppression. A number of factors—budgets, climate change, short-term management failures, and development practices— combined with an undergirding belief system that our physical environment can and should be controlled, rather than inhabited and cared for, have compounded our vulnerability to these fires.
Moreover, until the last decade, staffing firefighters through the winter made little economic or logistical sense. But now, seasonally employing wildland firefighters no longer makes sense in a world where the West's fire season keeps starting earlier and lasting longer.
Gitchos writes "To move away from these firestorms, we have to do more than tweak a few tactics. We have to change the way we think about fires—and not just about fighting them. That starts with changing the way we think about our relationship to nature, and to fire itself."
Guest:
Lazo Gitchos is a wildland firefighter and The Nation contributor.
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*This interview will be recorded on Thursday, January 16, 2025.
