In 2005 I researched a true story that happened in Malibu in 1991, which prompted me to do a bit of research on the fire hazard in greater Los Angeles. It quickly became apparent to me that on any given year, the elements could be in place for a conflagration that would destroy much of the city—the Santa Ana wind being the most dangerous factor.
In other words, the fire hazard to the human development of Los Angeles County has not been a theoretical possibility, but a clear and present danger. Given that Los Angeles County comprises the second largest population center in the United States, it seems to me that far more should have been invested in bolstering its security.
Much of the 870 billion that the U.S. government wastes every year on defense spending—purportedly to secure the nation from mostly fictional foreign bogeymen— should be spent on bolstering the critical infrastructure of American cities.
Lots of people predicted this exact scenario and have peen predicting it for years and years. The winds and the fire hazard were very heavy all of the time and still are. Why didn’t THEY spend some of the defense money there? For the same reason they are sending so much money to Ukraine, no doubt.