Gavin Newsom's readiness posture fails the victims of LA fires
By Maya Ellison · Reporting from Detroit ·
As Santa Ana winds spark fires in Brentwood and Palos, Governor Gavin Newsom's emergency response ignores the systemic neglect that leaves working families to absorb the ruinous costs.
A brush fire in Brentwood burned around 1.5 acres on Wednesday. At the same time, the Palos Fire spread across 12 acres and engulfed a home. These are not random accidents. They are the predictable results of a state that treats climate collapse as a series of surprises. Governor Gavin Newsom has placed the State Operations Center into an "enhanced readiness posture." That is a bureaucratic phrase for waiting for the disaster to happen. It does nothing to stop the cycle of ruin that always lands on the most vulnerable.
The predictable pattern of wind and fire
The Santa Ana winds are back. ABC7 Los Angeles reports that wind gusts could reach 40-70 mph in wind-prone areas. This is the same mechanism that drove the Palisades Fire. That disaster shares the same geography and the same wind-driven destruction. The historical pattern predicts that these winds will continue to trigger catastrophic loss until the state stops treating the symptoms and fixes the system. For this time to differ, we would need a total overhaul of how we build and protect the coast. Instead, we get "readiness."
The Palisades Fire shows us the cost of this failure.
The scale of that ruin was immense. This is the ledger my generation reads. We saw the 2008 crash take the houses on my block in Flint. We see the same logic here: the costs of deregulation and neglect land on specific zip codes.
The all-hazards trap
The state wants us to believe this is just "weather." FOX Weather reports wind gusts will peak between 50 and 60 mph at higher elevations. But the wind is only half the story.
The Guardian reports that Kevin McGowan, director of LA’s office of emergency management, told people to prepare for "all hazards." This is a dangerous shift in responsibility. When the state tells you to prepare for "all hazards," it is telling you that the government has given up on protecting you. It turns a systemic failure into a personal chore.
We are already seeing this "all-hazards" nightmare. Tropical Storm Rachel recently lashed the coast. The storm peaked as a major hurricane.
The human cost was immediate. Rachel caused 5 deaths and 5 missing persons in Baja California. In Long Beach, the city spent over $1m from emergency reserves.
The ruin hit the waterfront hard. Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson reported structures were marked unsafe. The city distributed sandbags to fight the tide. This is the reality of a hyperactive Pacific hurricane season.
The myth of the natural disaster
The ablest advocate for the state would say these are "acts of God." They would argue that no amount of planning can stop a Santa Ana wind event. They point to Newsom's "enhanced readiness" as proof that the state is doing its part. They claim the government is the shield between the people and the elements.
This is a lie. The Woolsey Fire showed us that aging electrical grids create a lethal combination with high winds. These are not acts of God. They are acts of corporate greed and state indifference. The "readiness posture" is a performance. It is a way to look active while the infrastructure continues to rot.
The state will once again bail out wealthy coastal property owners. They will use emergency funds to protect high-value real estate. Meanwhile, working-class renters and families will absorb the displacement. They will face the same housing insecurity that followed the 2005 La Conchita landslide.
The 2026 El Niño has supercharged the weather. It has brought record-shattering hurricanes and hyperactive winds. This multi-front crisis makes traditional bureaucratic relief a joke. We do not need a "readiness posture." We need a government that prioritizes displaced tenants over property speculators. Until the state mandates climate-resilience protections for the poor, the wind will keep blowing and the vulnerable will keep burning.