The California Fires — A Generational View

David Reavill
8 min readJan 12, 2025

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The Santa Barbara Harbor, with the Santa Ynez mountains in the background.

“Then God blessed them [Adam and Eve] and said, ‘Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.’” Genesis 1:28

Santa Barbara, September 22, 1964

My brother saw it first — just a tiny puff of smoke — up at the top of the ridge, where East Camino Cielo Road runs along the peak of the mountain. Perhaps it was just an old tractor or diesel truck starting up.

We continued on our walk out to the end of the Breakwater that sheltered Santa Barbara Harbor from the Pacific. As we turned and headed back, we saw that the tiny puff of smoke had grown dramatically. Flames shot above the mountaintop in the twilight as the fire’s pace dramatically increased. Reaching the Harbor Master Office, we joined a small group monitoring the fire’s progress.

For the next several hours, we were all transfixed by nature’s awesome power in one of its most destructive modes. Driven by those Santa Anna Winds, nothing stood in the way of the flames. Collectively, we let out a sigh as tree after tree ignited in an exploding fireball, like a torch. Each tree burned in an incredibly yellow brightness.

Sixty years later, I remember the scene as if it were yesterday; knowing that our home was safe, miles away from this raging inferno, I still felt the overwhelming dread of the fire’s total destruction.

But that’s not the case for those caught in the devastating fires in Los Angeles. Each time I watch the news, the number of homes destroyed rises, as does the number of killed. Once again, I get that sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Wildfire on the mountains above Santa Barbara.

For those of us who’ve enjoyed the little bit of paradise that lies between the mountains and the sea along the Coast of Southern California, fires are an eternal threat.

It’s what comes next that we’ll focus on. How will Californians react to the loss and devastation?
“Then God blessed them [Adam and Eve] and said, ‘Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.’” Genesis 1:28

Three generations have come and gone since that fateful day that the Coyote Fire began in Santa Barbara. And as you may suppose, the Golden State has changed dramatically. The 1960s, just like the 1950s, were a time of dramatic expansion in California. People were flocking to the state’s warm climate and seemingly endless possibilities.

The two dominant industries in the State were Agriculture, principally family-owned farms and ranches, and Oil. These were enterprises that were intimately tied to the land, for whom fire was one of their chief concerns. These were people who instinctively understood the 21-year water cycle that dominates California’s Climate: 21 years of plentiful rain, followed by 21 years of dry.

They knew that to live and prosper in California, they required taming the Water Cycle. Dams were built, cisterns installed, and the world’s largest water transport system was built between the snow-covered peaks of the Eastern Sierra and the inland valleys of Northern California to the populace in the Los Angeles Basin and all of Southern California.

These were the stewards of California, imbued with the Spiritual task of stewarding this vast state. They were responsible for meeting any challenge that California might send their way.

So, when the Coyote Fire subsided, and the chaparral grew back, they did what any Steward would do: They cut a wide firebreak along the front-facing reach of the beautiful Santa Ynez Mountains. Wide as a two-lane highway, it was a stretch of beige clay that formed a protective boundary from La Cumbre Peak to the bottom of the range. Not pretty; the firebreak was designed to prevent a future fire recurrence.

After all, that’s what Stewards do. They manage the Environment, hoping to make it more livable for the citizens of California while protecting them from the vicissitudes of California, like fire and drought.

The New California

The first man who, having fenced in a piece of land, said ‘This is mine’, and found people naïve enough to believe him, that man was the true founder of civil society. From how many crimes, wars, and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes might not any one have saved mankind, by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch, and crying to his fellows: Beware of listening to this impostor; you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody.
— Rousseau 1754

But time passed, memories faded, and the California Water Cycle went from dry to wet. The firebreak that we had seen before as our protector now became a “scar.” Many of those who had just moved to California were uncomfortable viewing themselves as Stewards of this wonderful land. In fact, they began to believe that humanity was the problem, not the solution. They pointed to smog, land and water pollution, urban blight, and degradation of the Environment as all the result of human activity.

These new Californians turned to a long-dead Philosopher, Jean Jacques Rousseau: “…the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody.”

In the new California, nature was to be left alone, without mankind’s “meddling and interference.” Firebreaks, especially the ones on the Santa Barbara mountains, were abandoned, and nature was allowed to take its course. Mankind’s role would no longer be to manage and direct nature. Instead, humankind should stand aside as nature is left in its most pristine state.

With its epicenter in California, this “Environmental Movement” began to gain increasing political traction. To politicians, especially on the left side of the spectrum, Environmentalism” became a verity. Like Apple Pie and Motherhood, no self-respecting candidate could oppose protecting the Environment.

No Roads

President Bill Clinton.

In the final days of his second term, President Bill Clinton signed what would become one of his most far-reaching Executive Orders. With the stroke of a pen, Clinton prohibited the building of roads and related activity on one-third of the nation’s forest (over 58 million acres). Aimed specifically at the logging industry, this move also prohibited all of the ancillary activities of forestry management. Henceforth, there would be no clearing of underbrush, no building of firebreaks, and access to any future fires would be severely limited.

An environmental disaster, this EO was pure political genius. For the very first time, doing nothing was considered good forestry management. The Chicago Tribune went right to the issue as they saw the real danger to the forests: fire.

“Last summer’s behemoth forest fires illustrate the danger inherent in the hands-off forest policy.
Without fire roads and breaks, mature forests will burn without mercy to their resident ecosystems. Modern forestry practices, in fact, protect older trees from fire and infestation through selective cutting and replanting. Thinner timber stands, with more abundant light and moisture, create a more diverse, greener forest habitat.” Chicago Tribune, January 15, 2001.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2001/01/15/a-troublesome-forest-policy/

The Tribune calls for the incoming Bush Administration (which would be inaugurated in just 3 weeks) to reverse this EO.

But the damage was already done. Politicians around the country have found a masterful way to claim they are protecting the Environment by taking a completely hands-off approach. This is the underlying philosophy that has guided our government’s environmental policy for over thirty years. It remained for the most recent generation of political leaders to begin tearing down infrastructure built years before to manage our Environment.

Water, The Essential Element

California’s history is the history of water management. By now, you’ve no doubt heard about Governor Newsom’s efforts to “save the Delta Smelt, “ a diminutive little fish that lives in the streams and estuaries of the Sacramento Delta. Just like Rousseau so many generations ago, Newsom squarely prioritizes the welfare of the Delta Smelt over the welfare of the citizens of California.

If there were any doubt about this, consider the plight of those fire victims in Southern California. By denying an expansion of the State’s Water transport systems, the dams, canals, and pumping stations that bring Northern California’s water to the South, Newsom diminished the amount of water that could have been used to fight those fires. Hydrants ran dry as the inferno raged.

Worst still is the realization that Newsom cut $101 million from California’s 2024 Budget to fight fires.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14271051/Gavin-Newsom-LA-fires-California-fish-Trump.html

Not stopping there, California, in coordination with the Oregon Legislature, just completed the removal of all the dams along the Klamath River. (The Klamath River is a significant freshwater source that begins in Oregon, travels through Northern California, and eventually joins the Pacific Ocean.) This was the most crucial removal of existing water infrastructure in our nation’s history.

Governor Newsom exulted over this “accomplishment,” declaring:

“This is a monumental achievement — not just for the Klamath River but for our entire state, nation, and planet. By taking down these outdated dams, we are giving salmon and other species a chance to thrive once again while also restoring an essential lifeline for tribal communities who have long depended on the health of the river. This is proof of what’s possible when we come together to prioritize our Environment, our people, and future generations.”

https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/10/02/klamath-river-dams-fully-removed-ahead-of-schedule/

You can’t help but hear the echoes of Rousseau in this sentiment.

In today’s stark reality, more than 150,000 Angelenos have lost their homes and are now desperately seeking to reestablish their lives even as the fires still rage. This brings into stark contrast the failed policies of hands-off environmentalism. Perhaps Newsom was simply short-sided and did not realize the future ramifications of his actions. This, at least, would be better than the alternative, a way of thinking that valued the salmon and the Delta Smelt over the lives of his fellow citizens.

Either way, short-sighted or malevolent, perhaps it’s time to reconsider a policy that manages our forests by doing nothing.

Post Script

My Grandfather was born in 1893 and grew up on his uncle’s Ranch just a few miles north of Malibu.

[Grandpa’s uncle was Robert P. Strathearn, whose house remains and is now a museum in Simi Valley, California.

https://www.simihistory.com/portfolio-items/strathearn-house/]

Grandpa used to tell the story of a massive wildfire that, driven by Santa Ana winds, destroyed everything in its path as it burned from the mountains to the ocean.

Our leadership has brought us back to those times—a time without sufficient water and when fire suppression did not exist. Once, Malibu was an idyllic place where thousands lived on the hills and by the ocean.

Today, many are returning to the burning foundation that was their home.

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David Reavill
David Reavill

Written by David Reavill

David Reavill writer + finance +iconoclast + hiker + Pennsylvania #valueside podcast + medium + meditate valueside.com/links

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