Jay Balagna

Residents impacted by the Southern California wildfires can now access information about the status of their property through CAL FIRE's damage inspection maps. While inspections are ongoing, information—including images—is being uploaded daily to keep communities informed.
#LAfires

The Terrifying Ride of Copter 17 A former Army pilot. An aging helicopter. Furious winds. The race to put out the Eaton fire tested Los Angeles County’s night-flying firefighters like never before.

I used to be a helitack firefighter. This story scared the hell out of me. Great writing from Thomas Fuller and @nytimes.com. I've known LACoFD Air Ops are giants in the field, but this really shows how elite they are--and the danger of what we saw last week.

Is there a link between #ClimateChange & increasing risk/severity of #wildfire in California--including the still-unfolding disaster? Yes. Is climate change the only factor at play? No, of course not. So what's really going on? [Thread] #CAfire #CAwx #LAfires iopscience.iop.org/a...

The L.A. Fires Show a Need to Rethink Our Wildland Firefighting Systems The wildland firefighting system is based on resource-sharing across local, state and federal agencies. But in a world of greater and more frequent wildfires, change is needed.

RAND colleague and former firefighter @jaybalagna.bsky.social : "A system built on luck is not a durable system. It is already strained, and it risks breaking down in a world of greater and more frequent wildfires."
www.rand.org/pubs/comment...

I've seen people say the homes lost were movie stars and rich tech folks. Plenty of people of means lost homes. But so did plenty of people living modest lives. If the American Dream still exists, it was alive in places like Altadena. A great piece from the @jessicagelt.bsky.social and @latimes.com

How Altadena became the L.A. dream for Gen X and millennial artists, writers, musicians For a particular creative community, Altadena represented one of the last great affordable places in L.A. to raise a family. The Eaton fire left those homes in ashes, and destroyed one vision of the L.A. dream.

For a particular creative community, Altadena represented one of the last great affordable places in L.A. to raise a family. The Eaton fire left those homes in ashes, and destroyed one vision of the L.A. dream.

Opinion | The Best Time to Fireproof Los Angeles Was Yesterday Can a city lose an entire neighborhood now and simply shuffle on, dragging the local memory like a ghost limb?

A thoughtful meditation and reminder of the scale of the reforms needed.It's not just that people are moving into fire-prone lands; in Mediterranean Europe the problem is people moving out of fire-prone lands.It's not where you live but how you live on the land. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/11/o...

And thank you to my @rand.org colleagues and editors who support this work. The last week has been hard, but I'm happy to have a platform with them to do this work.

Opinion: L.A. was lucky, with lots of help fighting fires. But no one should count on luck Local firefighting systems need more permanent, reliable employment, because sometimes neighboring communities, states and nations won't be able to lend resources.

As bad as the fires in the Los Angeles area have been, they could have been even worse. We got lucky but a system built on luck is not a durable system. It is already strained, and it risks breaking down in a world of greater and more frequent wildfires. Thanks to @latimes.com for running my latest:

Opinion: L.A. was lucky, with lots of help fighting fires. But no one should count on luck Local firefighting systems need more permanent, reliable employment, because sometimes neighboring communities, states and nations won't be able to lend resources.

New commentary from @jaybalagna.bsky.social. Jay is a former firefighter, a thoughtful researcher, and an Angeleno. www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...

I've been on lots of large fires in states red and blue. I've seen thousands of homes destroyed, ranging from small tailers housing a retiree on Social Security to large custom homes where the most wealthy among us live. I've talked to many who lost everything. 1/

Safety inspections like this wouldn’t have helped them, but they form a small part of the ways we try to make sure we don’t have to name more stretches of highway for firefighters. I have no patience for the bad-faith, purposeful misunderstanding of this to score political points.

An engine rollover killed a friend and fellow firefighter in 2016 outside the town where I grew up and near the station I spent my first four fire seasons living and working in. A stretch of Highway 140 in Nevada is named for Jacob O’Malley and Will Hawkins now. They were on their way home.

This is good and important and I have been sickened by the misinformation on it this week. Even the dire situation we see in LA can spare a few moments for firefighter safety. Vehicle accidents are the leading cause of emergency responser line-of-duty deaths. I have a personal stake in this, too…

Here’s some of the bite-sized thinking that @jaybalagna.bsky.social, @jimwhittington.bsky.social, and I have been doing on wildfires over the years (🧵 1/n)

Thanks to Aaron Clark-Ginsberg for leading this commentary and letting me contribute to it, and thank you to @rand.org and our collaborators outside the organization for the help and support.

The Los Angeles Fires and the Need for Long-Term Strategy Building Wildland Fire Resilience The fires in Los Angeles highlight an urgent need for policy reforms in land management and community preparedness. Without sustained investment and effort, future disasters are inevitable.

"America's structural and wildland fire response systems were never intended to address blazes at the scale and complexity witnessed today."

The wildfire crisis demands long-term thinking that focuses decades into the future. www.rand.org/pubs/comment...

Since the LA fires started, I've seen some great writing and outstanding media appearances by good people I know personally or through their work. Everyone is doing their best while being caught up in the swarm of mis- and dis-info. 1/

Wildland firefighters face a big pay cut if Congress doesn’t act − that’s taking a toll on a workforce already under stress Firefighters work long hours to protect communities, often in dangerous conditions and for low starting pay. Surveys show the impact that can have on their physical and mental health.

Wildland firefighters face a big pay cut if Congress doesn’t act − that’s taking a toll on a workforce already under stress

The belief was that urban fires no longer exist, but they’ve come back. “It’s like watching polio return,” he said. “It’s happening repeatedly.””

Ooof

www.latimes.com/california/s...

It’s so hard to balance. You’re navigating it all gracefully, though

This is a fantastic quote in this @latimes.com piece today. I’ve been trying to say some version of this to people for the last few days www.latimes.com/california/s...

Global climate change worsens disasters, but blaming climate change alone deflects responsibility from effective local governance, infrastructure, and warning systems to multinational corporations and international climate mitigation efforts. Time to re-read @frediotto.bsky.social.

Whenever a wildland fire hits the national news & all the Internet fire experts/explainer bros show up, you can bet they have no understanding of scale, topography, fuel types, fire behavior, decision-making in a time-constrained environment, or how things have changed over the last 25 years.

Column: For Angelenos suffering fire fatigue, ace water drop videos are sweet revenge Videos of fire-fighting pilots nailing flames with miraculous precision have given Angelenos something to root for during a week of shock, terror and grief.

And now, for something a little more lighthearted, here's @marymac22.bsky.social on a new and uniquely L.A. phenomenon: water-drop fan cams.

"To a city reeling with loss, water drop videos are “Battle of Britain” and Snoopy beating the Red Baron."

www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

A THREAD on how disaster donations can be extremely harmful instead of helpful to communities experiencing a disaster.

I'll be using the movie Clueless to illustrate this issue but there is also decades of disaster research about this and plenty of first-hand accounts. #GreySky

This is a beautiful piece by a RAND colleague of mine. I have felt (from the same Eagle Rock neighborhood) many of the same things he writes about here over the past few days...

Thank you!!

When Fire Information and the Desire to Help Collide Online As wildfires swept through Los Angeles, misinformation circulated among citizens, celebrities, and some journalists, leading to significant confusion. This scenario highlights the challenges of ensuri...

As wildfires swept through Los Angeles this week, misinformation circulated online, leading to significant confusion.

RAND experts break down what happened—and highlight the challenges of communication during emergencies: www.rand.org/pubs/comment...

As Fires Continue to Burn Around Los Angeles, Here Are Some Recovery Tips and Resources As Los Angeles battles ongoing wildfires, tens of thousands face displacement. Recovery begins now, but long-term healing will take years, requiring community support and resources for rebuilding and ...

As fires continue to burn around Los Angeles, here are some resources and recovery tips from RAND emergency response and disaster recovery experts: www.rand.org/pubs/comment... @aclarkginsberg.bsky.social