Los Angeles fires max incompetence, min accountability, 1 year later in 1 post: - Feb 24: the Santa Ynez Reservoir is emptied because of a tear on its cover. - Spring 24: LAFD leadership and UFLAC flag budget and understaffing issues. - June 24: Mayor Bass cuts LAFD budget. - Summer 24: UFLAC warns about increased readiness gaps with further budget cuts and are ignored. - Fall 24: LAFD internal reviews reveals water + command strains. - 1/3/25: City emergency notice: critical fire conditions. - 1/4/25: Bass departs for Ghana for a presidential inauguration boondoggle. - 1/6/25: Notice gets elevated: particularly dangerous situation (Bass still in Ghana). - 1/7/25: Altadena and Palisades fires break out (aka hell breaks lose for Angelenos). - 1/7/25: Bass gets notified by staff while in Ghana, at first says she can monitor and manage the situation from there. - 1/7/25 evening: evacuation orders. - 1/8/25 3am: Palisades fire hydrants run dry (Reservoirs empty). - 1/8/25 mid-day: Bass finally returns to LA from Ghana, by then 100,000+ structures are destroyed. - 1/13/25: Bass issues "Return and Rebuild" exec order, promises fast clean up, permitting. - 1/18-20/25: fires mostly under control, the damage is unfathomable. - summer 25: Santa Ynez Reservoir is at long last refilled, 18+ months after it was emptied for a cover repair. - 1/24/26: more than 1 year after the fires and the "return and rebuild" promises, ONLY ONE rebuilt Palisades home has received a certificate of occupancy. The next LA mayoral election will take place this year.(David Marcus)