Somali National News Agency
So
Ar
Search
  • Home
  • Local News
    Local NewsShow More
    Ambassador Jabril Commends Somali Community in Kisumu for Their Role in Commerce and Cultural Diversity
    June 1, 2025
    Prime Minister Hamza Departs for Official Visit to Djibouti
    June 1, 2025
    Somalia Sends Statement of Condolence and Solidarity to Nigeria
    June 1, 2025
    Minister of Defence meets Director of UNMAS in Somalia
    June 1, 2025
    President Hassan Announces National Consultation for Political and Civil Society Leaders to Convene in Mogadishu on June 15
    June 1, 2025
  • World News
    World NewsShow More
    Israel kills 2 Gaza aid seekers as UN warns of ‘catastrophic hunger’
    May 31, 2025
    A miraculous story of a Hujjaj from Libya
    May 27, 2025
    UNA Participates in International Conference on Islamophobia in Azerbaijan
    May 27, 2025
    At least 11 hurt in South Carolina beach town shooting
    May 26, 2025
    Runway lights weren’t working as pilot tried to land at foggy San Diego airport before fatal crash
    May 24, 2025
  • Articles
    ArticlesShow More
    A miraculous story of a Hujjaj from Libya
    May 27, 2025
    Nation First, Politics Later: PM Hamza Appeals to Youth Amid Growing Political Tensions
    May 24, 2025
    Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is expected to be present at the signing ceremony in Hong Kong on May 30.
    China Leads Historic Effort to Establish International Mediation Body
    May 24, 2025
    From Yunnan to Somalia: A Path Out of Poverty
    May 13, 2025
    Doha Hosts the 26th Session of the Council Conference of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy
    May 4, 2025
  • Business
    BusinessShow More
    Somalia Unveils the Blueprint for a Modern and Sustainable Mogadishu
    December 21, 2024
    Djibouti Launches $57.4 Million Youth Entrepreneurship Project to Combat Climate Change
    November 25, 2024
    FM meets Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia
    October 28, 2024
    President Hassan Sheikh Inaugurates New LPG Storage Center in Mogadishu
    May 12, 2024
    Collaboration of ICT transformation for digital Infrastructure
    October 24, 2023
  • Sports
    SportsShow More
    Mogadishu Stadium to Host Star-Studded Match Featuring Somali Legends and International Football Icons
    May 27, 2025
    Arsenal held at Brighton while Man City bounce-back continues
    January 5, 2025
    Galmudug wins the Inter-State Football Tournament
    January 29, 2024
    Somalia set for two int’l friendlies ahead of WC qualifier clashes against Algeria and Uganda
    October 10, 2023
    Chicago woman, 104, skydives from plane, aiming for record as the world’s oldest skydiver
    October 3, 2023
  • Tenders
    TendersShow More
    Quay Renovation Works – Supply and Installation of Fenders and Bollards
    April 11, 2025
Reading: As Los Angeles burns, criticisms and questions about response arise
Share
Font ResizerAa
Somali National News AgencySomali National News Agency
  • SOMALI
  • ARABIC
Search
  • Home
  • Local News
  • World News
  • Articles
  • Business
  • Sports
  • Tenders
Follow US
©2023 || All rights reserved SONNA
Somali National News Agency > Blog > Local News > As Los Angeles burns, criticisms and questions about response arise
Local News

As Los Angeles burns, criticisms and questions about response arise

By Khadar Aweys
Last updated: January 11, 2025
4 Min Read
Share

The speed and intensity of the blazes ravaging Los Angeles this week have put its firefighting infrastructure to the test — and given rise to questions and criticism surrounding preparedness.

Contents
Resources needed‘Risk-reward decision’

Hydrants ran dry in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood as it was ravaged by one of the region’s five separate fires, while water shortages additionally hampered efforts elsewhere.

“We need answers to how that happened,” California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote in a letter to the heads of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Los Angeles County Public Works.

Calling the lack of water and water pressure “deeply troubling,” Newsom directed state officials to prepare an independent report on the causes.

Chris Sheach, assistant professor of disaster management at Paul Smith’s College in New York state, told AFP part of the problem is that the city’s fire-fighting infrastructure wasn’t designed for enormous multi-acre conflagrations.

“Their system is built to fight individual house fires,” he said, or for “responding to commercial or residential structure fires.”

The amount of water used for one building compared to the amount needed to squelch a fire burning across thousands of acres is quite different, he added.

Resources needed

Early firefighting efforts created four times the normal demand for water over approximately 15 hours, Janisse Quinones, CEO and chief engineer at the city’s water department, told the New York Times.

Apart from that, Los Angeles fire chief Kristin Crowley has said her city is hampered by a lack of resources.

“I have, over the past three years, been clear that the fire department needs help. We can no longer sustain where we are,” she told CNN Friday, explaining the necessity for more staff, resources and funding.

She said this included the need for 62 new fire stations amid a 55 percent increase in call volume since 2010.

US President-elect Donald Trump, who returns to the White House in just over a week, has seized upon the drama to attack Democrats, launching a series of evidence-free broadsides accusing Governor Newsom of a variety of failings.

He has even tried to blame a lack of water on environmentalists’ efforts to protect the smelt — a small fish that lives hundreds of miles away from the fires.

‘Risk-reward decision’

“The fact that we have such a low number of fatalities despite the massive property losses is a testament to the work of fire chiefs and government officials who have been timely,” Sheach, the professor, said.

The fires have so far destroyed around 10,000 buildings, California’s fire agency reported, while the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office has put the death toll at 11.

California firefighters “are some of the best firefighters in the world. They do this so often,” Sheach said, adding that they were better trained than in most other localities because “it’s their reality.”

How can a city like Los Angeles be better prepared in the future? And would it mean hiring more firefighters or increasing water supply?

“Those are decisions that politicians have to work with their community, because what’s right for each community is going to be up to how much they’re willing to pay,” Sheach said.

Decreasing risk means spending more money, he explained, calling the situation a giant “risk-reward decision.”

Source: Al Arabiya, Agencies 

Share This Article
Facebook Whatsapp Whatsapp Email Copy Link Print

MORE NEWS

Official Reopening of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Archives

CultureEducationLocal News
November 23, 2024

Kenya’s small farmers find respite in avocados amid changing climate

NAIROBI(SONNA) As crop diseases and pests rise in Kenya amid a rapidly changing climate that…

March 11, 2023

Ambassador Jabril Commends Somali Community in Kisumu for Their Role in Commerce and Cultural Diversity

Kisumu, (SONNA) — The Ambassador of the Federal Government of Somalia to the Republic of…

June 1, 2025

Nimcaan Hilaac appointed to lead Waberi National Band

Mogadishu (SONNA)-Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H.E. Mohamed…

March 3, 2020

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Head of AUSSOM welcomes Somalia-Ethiopia joint Communique

Mogadishu, (SONNA) – The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia and Head of…

Local News
January 13, 2025

Rebel RSF Shelling Hits Hospitals, Terrorizes Civilians in Sudan’s El Obeid

El Obeid, Sudan (SONNA) – May 30, 2025 – Hospitals and residential areas in El Obeid, a strategically vital city…

Local News
May 30, 2025

Mogadishu Security Conference Led by Police Commander Sulub Ahmed Firin

Mogadishu, Somalia - The Somali Police Force’s Capital Security Conference was recently presided over by Brigadier General Sulub Ahmed Firin,…

Local News
May 9, 2024

Somali and Iraqi Leaders Discuss Bilateral Ties and Counterterrorism at Arab League Summit

MANAMA, Bahrain — Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre of Somalia and President Abdul Latif Rashid of Iraq convened in Manama…

Local News
May 16, 2024

Somali National News Agency established in 1964. It is one of the main pillars of the Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism.

  • Home
  • Local News
  • World News
  • Articles
  • Business
  • Sports
  • Tenders
  • SNTV
  • RADIO MOGADISHU
  • DALKA JOURNAL
  • TOURISM DEPARTMENT

Follow US: 

  • MoICT
  • VILLA SOMALIA
  • OPM SOMALIA

All rights reserved SONNA

©2023

Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?