California’s wildfire crisis is the result of a combination of poor public policy, excuses, and administrative overreach. This crisis is not only caused by natural phenomena, but is also exacerbated by years of misplaced priorities and misguided policy management.

In California, regulations are often elevated to near-religious status, and adherence to progressive ideals can sometimes come at the expense of public safety. This regulatory environment turns practical solutions into bureaucratic nightmares, where even simple tasks require navigating an endless maze of permits and red tape.

This results in a situation where water resources are mismanaged. retention Failure to have adequate contingency plans for pumps in the event of a power outage or to ensure that systems are operating reliably; designed To deal with fire loads.

There is too much emphasis on green policies without properly balancing the needs of the population or accurately measuring the impact and effectiveness of the policies.

A home fire requires a quick and competent response with adequate support from staffing, resources, and clear lines of authority.

The prioritization of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) over merit-based hiring is evident in places like the Los Angeles Fire Department, led by Chief Christine Crowley. Her DEI efforts are frequently highlighted, raising questions about whether this could compromise operational readiness.

The fire department’s primary focus should be to prioritize life safety, incident stabilization, and property preservation. When diversity overshadows meritocracy, there is a shift from equality of opportunity to equality of outcome.

Across blue states, human resources managers are more concerned about diversity and soft-touching than ensuring that applicants have the physical strength, mechanical aptitude, and cognitive abilities needed for the job, regardless of immutable characteristics. There is a tendency to focus on quotas.

Recording of LAFD Deputy Chief Christine Larson statementanswered a question about their ability to rescue someone from a fire: Well, my answer is, if I have to carry him out of the fire, he was in the wrong place. ”

In the same clip, she focused on the racial makeup of firefighters rather than their abilities.

Benefits should ignore race and gender. It’s about ensuring firefighters and police officers have the skills, knowledge and abilities they need to do their jobs.

Victor Davis Hanson is commented: “This was a complete breakdown of the system with the idea of ​​not spending money on irrigation, storage, water, fire protection, force management, a viable insurance industry, and the DEI tier. When you put all these things together, you get the DEI Green New Deal. It will be like a hydrogen bomb.”

Additionally, fire departments in cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York are still dealing with the aftermath of the pandemic. Some have called for the reinstatement of firefighters who were fired for not being vaccinated, suggesting this is an opportunity to eliminate diversity of viewpoints.

Elected officials should not socially design fire departments. True diversity comes from educational opportunities such as school choice and opportunity scholarships, and by breaking the stranglehold of teachers unions while holding superintendents accountable.

Qualified personnel and proper water management alone cannot reduce fires. Congress and the state of California need to disentangle the web of competing agencies in wildland fire and forest management and ensure clear lines of authority for public safety.

Collaboration with fire services for green logging and forest management can create jobs, create fire lines and ensure faster response.

Advanced technologies for early detection, such as fire towers, drones, and satellite sensing, are used to guide aviation assets and enable rapid response from helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to prevent or slow the spread of fires from the beginning. There is a need.

The United States does not station sufficient manned air assets that are appropriately geographically located and on alert to respond at a moment’s notice. This means deploying aviation assets across the West Coast, in some cases allowing night flights, and changing policies to ensure 24/7 availability. The same applies to bulldozers and other heavy equipment. It should be pre-approved and ready to respond before an incident occurs, eliminating red tape.

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D), Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) and the federal government are not living up to expectations and are making excuses rather than solutions. The public wants accountability, not just promises. It’s time for California to embrace common sense wildfire management, focus on benefits, manage our natural resources wisely, and reduce bureaucratic hurdles that impede effective action.

Only then can we respond to this crisis with the urgency and efficiency it requires.

Frank Rich is a fellow at the Yankee Institute and was the lead plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court case. Ricci v DeStefano. He retired as a battalion commander in New Haven, Connecticut. He has testified before Congress and is the author of a book. Existence of command.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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