The #CampFire deserves more of our attention. The loss of life is astounding, as is the heroism. But unlike hurricanes and floods, there seems to be collective shoulder shrug about what can be done...at least here on the East Coast.
Our structures are outdated. Wild lands firefighters are geared to be seasonal. Now they are year round. And DC folk, did you know that most people WHO JUMP INTO A FIRE are GS-5s and GS-7s?
And rebuilding? No such thing as "build back better" in Paradise. It will take a year or more for the land to be cleared. These survivors must start from scratch. Do we have resources in place to adequately help them with that process? Of course not.
And what about the crises to come? The mudslides? What about other crises that will divert response and recovery operations? Califorinia will live with this for years and more is coming. Every element of govt that deals with this is unde-resourced and overworked.
Everyone knows we have to think differently about these threats. The problem is that the people responsible for the thinking are too busy fighting fires. Literally.
Legislators focus on aid packages but when it comes to fires and floods, big issues like rethinking building standards, overhauling response agencies and employing predictive technology takes a back seat to giving $25k to survivors and calling it a done deal.
It's only going to get worse. We know that. So calling on legislators to focus on crises mitigation in our communities is time well spent. It can't help the people of Paradise, sadly. But they and the heroes working to help them deserve our attention to the big picture.
