Remembering
James Robison

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The Brew: The Unfolding Hell in the City of Angels

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 8: A firefighter stands on top of a fire truck to battle the Palisades Fire while it burns homes on the Pacific Coast Highway amid a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. The fast-moving wildfire has grown to more than 2900-acres and is threatening homes in the coastal neighborhood amid intense Santa Ana Winds and dry conditions in Southern California.

By Al Perrotta Published on January 9, 2025

For the second time already this year, America woke up to a gut-wrenching tragedy unfolding in a major American city. Los Angeles and now other towns in Southern California are aflame amid horrific hurricane-force Santa Ana winds. It’s not stock footage from Hell we’re seeing; that’s Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and Sylmar. As I write this, four major wildfires are raging out of control. I’d say it’s a miracle if more do not spring up, given those cursed winds and the high odds of innocent sparks and wayward embers. (To say nothing of the sizable criminal element in Southern California.)

UPDATE: As feared, another wildfire has broken out, this time in the Hollywood Hills. The Sunset fire has put Hollywood landmarks, such as TLC Chinese Theater, Dolby Theater, Magic Castle, and along the Hollywood Walk of Fame in danger. As of 7 a.m. Eastern, the Sunset fire is 0 percent contained. 

More than 1,000 structures had been lost by noon Wednesday, and two people had been confirmed dead.

Our hearts grieve for what’s happening to the people in the City of Angels. We pray for the safety of all anywhere near these raging flames, particularly the firefighters and other first responders working in 100 MPH winds, with spotty water resources at best, to beat them into submission.

God be with the families of those who may have been lost in these fires and those who have or will soon be losing everything they own.

No Run-of-the-Mill Wildfire Outbreak

I lived many years in Los Angeles, and have seen many a wildfire. I once saw a fire above Glendale make an astonishing leap of nearly a mile from one hill across a small valley to another hill on the other side of a freeway in the blink of an eye. “Wait. Now there’s a fire on that side of the 2?!”

Still, through all the fires I always thought, This one may be rough, but the firefighters have a fair shot at it — even the year wildfires appeared to ring the entire L.A. basin.

On Tuesday night, just hours into the battle, we were already looking at the Category-2 hurricane-like winds that were just starting to rev up the fury of the flames, there were already reports of no water available to use, air resources being grounded, and the LAFD pleading for help from any available firefighter. That’s when I knew we were looking at an apocalypse, the pyrotechnic equivalent of The Big One — a fire that is going to roar for days, not in some back country area, but in highly populated urban ZIP codes.

But I also know we serve a God who can calm the winds. And so we pray …

Perspective and Sorrow from a Conservative Actor

Malibu and Pacific Palisades are, of course, home to many celebrities. Kudos to Cocoon star Steve Guttenberg for his efforts Tuesday to help firefighters by getting cars that had been abandoned out of their way. (All that Police Academy training came in handy, one supposes.)

Actor James Woods tweeted after he safely evacuated, “We renovated a home after COVID and just finished last month. To all the lovely people offering care and love, I’ll say this. There is no possession as priceless as friends and good neighbors during a tragedy. I can’t believe the blessings we enjoy, and I am humbly grateful.”

Within several hours his house in Pacific Palisades had been reduced to ash. “It tests your soul, losing everything at once, one must say.”

The Politics of the Inferno

Nasty Karens on X were happy to see Woods’s house go up in flames, with one taking special glee because the conservative Woods doesn’t buy into climate change ideology.

Woods, who has never been one to let a dig go unanswered, was in no mood yesterday morning. “This fire is not from ‘climate change,’” he said, using some other colorful words we won’t repeat here. “It’s because liberal idiots like you elect liberal idiots like Gavin Newsom and (L.A. Mayor) Karen Bass. One doesn’t understand the first thing about fire management and the other can’t fill the water reservoirs.”

Woods would join the chorus in pointing out that L.A. Fire Chief Kristen Crowley seems more interested in diversity, equity, and inclusion than in preparing to battle wildfires.

(Echoes of the police chief in New Orleans.)

Dave Rubin posted that just two weeks ago, liberal talk show host Piers Morgan yelled at him for saying that DEI initiatives in California fire departments are dangerous because such focus, by definition, takes one’s eyes and resources off the mission.

Speaking of resources, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is getting heat for being in Ghana for an inauguration as her city went up in flames. While you can’t really fault her for being in the wrong place when the first fire started, you can raise an eyebrow when you hear that she cut the city’s fire department budget by $17.6 million. (But fighting to protect illegal immigrants in her “sanctuary city”? After Donald Trump’s reelection in November, she was on that like sand on Venice Beach.)

Trump, meanwhile, took aim at Gov. Gavin Newsom on Truth Social for wasting precious water to protect one particular fish — water that is desperately needed across the state.

Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way. He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn’t work!), but didn’t care about the people of California. Now the ultimate price is being paid. I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is to blame for this. On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, not firefighting planes. A true disaster!

The wildfires played havoc with Joe Biden’s planned trip to Los Angeles. He and Newsom visited a fire station in Santa Monica on Wednesday for a briefing about the blazes before the president returned to Washington.

With all the political finger-pointing, we cannot lose sight of the fact that real people are involved, facing real trauma … and that includes celebrities and politicians. In fact, Kamala Harris’ home is in danger. Her neighbors were forced to evacuate.

One Particular Hero … an American Flag Saved From the Flames

Watching the tornados of flame move across the expanding hellscape, it is evident that every single firefighter taking on these fires is a bona fide hero.

However, we can take a moment to salute one particular Los Angeles firefighter, who amid the wicked winds and eerie orange glow rescued an American flag at risk from the flames.

Along The Stream…

Jules Gomes brings us the latest news from the Vatican with “Pope Francis Picks ‘Heretical’ Anti-Trump Cardinal as Archbishop of Washington.”

We also have a video that takes a deep dive into election engineering and fraud, based on the bestselling book The Parallel Election by Leah Hoopes and Gregory Stenstrom. It’s called “How the Democrats Steal Elections and RINOs Actually Help Them (So They Can Steal the Primaries).”

 

Al Perrotta is The Stream’s Washington bureau chief, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.