Natural disasters do not exist.
A hazard can only become a disaster once it impacts on society or community. A hazard is natural, disasters are not.

– UN Office of Disaster Risk Reduction

I sit in London watching Los Angeles, where I was raised and make my home, burn. Both the parts of town where I spent my childhood and where I spend much of my time as an adult, have been devastated. London is my second home, as dear to me as Los Angeles, and I cannot enjoy this visit. I study disasters, I literally have a doctorate in disasters, and I want so badly to get on a plane and be useful that I’m losing all perspective.

Fortunately, I work at the LA Regional Collaborative for Climate Resilience and Sustainability, so I know that I can actually help – even now, from 6000 miles away I am working to find ways to inform and empower my beloved, devastated communities. As I fight off nightmares filled with smoke and running, here is what I’m thinking after 15 years of studying When Things Go Horribly Wrong:

The dominant narrative is painting these as wildland fires, and there is a strong green/environmentalist/leftist narrative in play, focusing on Wildland/Urban Interface (WUI) and how this is bad planning – even arguing that rebuilding shouldn’t happen in these areas. A lot of conservatives are arguing that the problem was poor brush clearance.

None of this is helpful. As fire experts are pointing out (not that the media is taking much notice), this was fundamentally an urban fire, not a wildland fire. Open space and parkland did spread the fire between neighborhoods, but this was the result of having no rain since April. These fires could have emerged – and spread horrifically – in almost any part of the city.

The main catalyst for fire spread was house to house, due to hurricane force winds. Embers were igniting new spot fires up to two miles away from the main fire areas. The intensity of the fire was amazing to see; it created not only its own weather but its own tornadoes. No urban area is prepared for this level of conflagration.

There are a huge number of ways that fire risk can be addressed through better approaches to the built environment (better enforcement of fire codes; more attention being paid to fire-prone invasive species; building firebreaks into the landscape) and social resilience (giving people training and resources to increase fire resistance for homes and multi-unit buildings; offering community emergency response training and equipment caches; educating people on evacuation).

But ultimately, what we need to do is change our approach to fire (and disasters generally) in Los Angeles and the US in general. 

Disasters are not exceptional, unpredictable events. Disasters are a part of life. They are something that we can, and must, plan for. There is an idea that preparation for disaster is catastrophizing or negative in some way – we have got to encourage people to think about disaster without freaking out about it, but instead find empowerment and comfort through preparedness.

I think about my very beloved friend, whose house is now ashes. She had 20 minutes to pack her things. She never really believed that her house was at risk. What she took with her was random, unorganized – as it would be for almost anyone in that situation.

I (disaster nerd), have a go-bag with supplies for myself and my cat, as well as first aid and survival supplies. I keep my critical personal records in one place (next to the photo albums) and my most precious possessions in one place, so that if I have 10 minutes to pack I can throw them all in the suitcase and get out.

I wish I had spent more time encouraging my best friend to take this approach – it wouldn’t help much, but it might have helped a little? The point I’m trying to make is that we need to mainstream disasters – this is a key element of resilience – we need to see them as a normal part of life planning. We must incorporate disasters into everyday life on every level, otherwise we’re just setting ourselves up for more of the same.