Inconvenient truths about the fires burning in Los Angeles from two fire experts
Not quite six years ago, wildfire expert Jack Cohen, who lives in Missoula, Mont., visited Pacific Palisades to instruct firefighters and property owners on how to protect homes against wildfires.
Three days of training, including a tour of the community, left Cohen hopeful, but the feeling faded when it became clear that his lessons were not going to be fully implemented. This week’s tragedy has left him with a deep sadness.
From his home outside Phoenix, fire historian Stephen Pyne sees history unfolding in this week’s destruction in Los Angeles.
With 11 dead, more than 12,000 structures destroyed or damaged and 150,000 residents under evacuation order, the siege has the potential of being the costliest wildfire disaster in American history, according to UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain.
Respected by fire agencies across the country, Cohen and Pyne have found their straight-talk admonitions often disregarded or dismissed. Sensitive to losses and suffering, both said they are motivated by the belief that magnitude of destruction this week in Los Angeles and Altadena is not a foregone conclusion.
