UNITED STATES—What is happening right now in Southern California is devastating. Neighborhoods have been destroyed, cities have been decimated, the pictures of what Pacific Palisades used to look like and what it looks like now is devastating; just devastating. The pets who have been unhoused or lost, people have died, I can keep going. It is difficult to watch and hard to fathom. A ton of celebrities have lost their homes and people are like, boohoo, they have the money to rebuild. However, that is not the point, memories, blood, sweat and tears put into that building or making that property a home, just gone, it has completely vanished.

You are seeing people come together in a way that has never happened. People are donating water, personal necessities, clothing, food, gift cards and just the basics to give individuals hope and realization they will get back on their feet, but it just might take a bit of time. However, now the focus turns to what can be done to change things to ensure this doesn’t happen again. The Woosley Fire did some devastation in Malibu several years ago, but the Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire, Hurst Fire and the several other wildfires that have broken out in Southern California has done damage not seen ever before.

For starters, there is too much brush in the state of California, and it needs to be removed. There is no reason why there should NOT be more brush clearance in the state especially when it is no secret the state is prone to wildfires because of the brush and extremely dry weather. In addition, what the hell is up with the water? The state is right next to the Pacific Ocean, and even if you’re not taking water directly from the Pacific Ocean, residents should be allowed to water their properties more than one to two days a week.

I couldn’t even imagine living in a state where it barely rains, not to mention a place where I cannot water my lawn as I choose. That just seems crazy, especially if I’m paying a water bill. What are the restrictions actually doing? Is it conserving water, is it helping the actual state? What about vegetation? It doesn’t seem like the conservation of water is actually helping the state, it is hurting it.

Not to mention the water flow is so low that it impacts the pressure of the water that comes out. How the hell are firefighters and first responders supposed to tackle these wildfires when they have a lack of water in fire hydrants or the water pressure is so low that nothing is coming out to actually diminish or extinguish these flames when they pop up.

Yeah, Governor Gavin Newsom should be in the hot seat, when there are reservoirs of water that could have been accessed to help battle the blazes and it is not being done. Also those restrictions he implemented on watering of properties from residents is a double whammy. Not to mention Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass being tasked with answering questions pertaining to departmental cuts for the fire department. I’m sorry, but when you’re talking about police departments and fire departments cutting budgets impact safety and prevention of things like the wildfires that California is seeing and it’s been over a week since those wildfires first erupted on January 7.

The leadership in California has to wake up and realize there are things that can be done to prevent the notion of wildfires being just a natural disaster. Yes, natural disasters and things pertaining to Mother Nature, sometimes cannot be controlled, but with these wildfires there are things that could have been done to limit the damage. It is time for the Governor of California and Mayor of Los Angeles and other politicians who are all about limiting water usage and water flow to ask the hard questions: why?

Written By Jason Jones