The Governance Failures That Fed the Los Angeles Wildfires

‘There’s a public-policy failure,’ says a onetime candidate for governor who nearly lost his home.

By Jason L. Riley. Excerpts:

"There’s no disputing Mother Nature’s primary role in the devastation. The Santa Ana winds responsible for the wildfires begin north and east of Los Angeles in the Great Basin, which includes large sections of Utah and Nevada. As those winds travel south and west, coursing through the canyons and arroyos of Southern California, they drop in elevation and become warmer and dryer.

This is nature, not man-made climate change, at work. It’s been happening since long before Los Angeles was settled. What’s changed isn’t the predictability of the fires but rather the priorities and competence of those responsible for keeping people safe. Has the underbrush that fuels the fires been cleared? Have the forests been thinned? Are the reservoirs full and operational?"

"Santa Ynez [Reservoir] is “meant to hold 117 million gallons of water” but “has been offline and empty since early 2024” and repeatedly in need of repair. Worse, it isn’t clear whether the Los Angeles Fire Department had been notified that the reservoir couldn’t be used." 

"The National Weather Service warned of “extreme fire risk” and “life-threatening” winds before the blazes began."

"Investigators haven’t ruled out arson. A former head of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Patrick Jordan, wrote on social media Sunday that “50% of the fires in Los Angeles are homeless related.” According to federal data, more than one-fifth of all homeless people in the country live in Los Angeles County."