Beyond Darien
The Los Angeles Fires: What We Can Learn, What We Can Do, How We Can Help
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First Selectman John Zagrodzky on Friday published an article about the Los Angeles fires with information about key, useful things for people here to know and do. Here’s his article, which appeared Friday in the Town of Darien Newsletter:
FROM THE FIRST SELECTMAN
I participated this week in a very informative call about the recent (and unfortunately ongoing) fires in Los Angeles. Some key learnings:
While there were political failures for sure (preparation, hazard mitigation and water availability), the city faced a “perfect storm” of conditions, including strong Santa Ana winds, extremely dry conditions, a microburst of dry, cold air over the area, and plenty of undergrowth for fuel. And they knew this was coming: over 170 fire alerts, which use satellite data to detect fires based on the heat they generate, had been detected in the area as of Jan. 13 – more than 100 times the average for the first three weeks of the year from 2012-2024.