We’re pleased to present this commentary from State Senator Tom McClintock…
Through the Gloom
The tide of battle seems to have turned in the last 24 hours, and the firestorms that have stricken and terrorized our communities from Santa Barbara to San Diego now appear to be on the way to being vanquished. Two transcendent observations are hard to miss amidst the tragedy.
The first is the sense of proportion and resolve expressed by the families who lost their homes this week. Having just watched every material possession accumulated during a lifetime suddenly reduced to ashes – often on the mere whim of the winds – all gave thanks that their loved ones were safe and then instantly turned their thoughts to the future and their determination to pick up, rebuild and move on.
If anyone doubts that the gritty fortitude of America’s pioneers survives to this generation, the victims of the California fires have answered it definitively.
The other is the improvements in coordination and response of California’s emergency services – a performance that is already being hailed as the exact opposite of the Katrina fiasco. There’s a great deal that doesn’t work within the government’s bureaucracies, but local, state and federal emergency agencies have proven themselves equal – in fact, much more than equal – to the Herculean task that they were called to undertake this week.
There’s always room for improvement and in any crisis there’s always going to be a certain “fog of war” in which miscommunication, missteps and misjudgments inevitably occur. But no one can watch the emergency response to the 2007 brushfires unfold without a high degree of admiration and pride at the overall competence, preparation and diligence of all those charged with protecting the lives and property of our communities.
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