It Doesn’t Smell Like Teen Spirit, It Smells Like Smoke
A Story Unfolding Across Timelines.
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The 2025 Southern California wildfires remind us again how powerless we are against nature. I’ve seen videos on social media of people driving down streets with split screens showing two different realities. On one side are the burned-out buildings and destroyed streets. On the other side is Google Street View, showing how these same streets looked just a few days ago. Everything is burned out, even the structures of buildings. There are areas completely burned out with nothing remaining, and everything looks flat when driving through those streets.
It is heartbreaking to see what people have worked for and built their entire lives vanish in a fire. Some possessions and memories cannot be replaced with financial compensation, and it will take years to rebuild everything from scratch.
I know many people currently living in LA, including my own family. Some were affected, and some were evacuated or are waiting to be evacuated. Others, including my brother and his family, are relatively in safe zones but still smell the smoke from the fire. However, does it really make people feel safe when the smoke is constantly there, and this is what they breathe?
Memories Burned Into Us
The smell of a fire is hard to forget, and it is burned into the memory of those who experience it. I remember it from the Mount Carmel forest fire disaster in Haifa, Israel, in 2010. This deadly wildfire swept through the forest on Mount Carmel and burned more than 12,000 acres, killing 44 people. For almost a week, the fire zone and the surrounding area were closed to people and any activity until the fire was contained.
Thinking about how smell burned into the memory, we can never really understand the memories of Holocaust survivors from the crematoria in the Nazi death camps. We can only imagine what smells burned into the memories of survivors of terror attacks or warriors on the battlefield. Above all, we will never understand what smells burn into the memories of first responders and rescue forces when they have to deal with natural disasters, terror attacks, or just ordinary car accidents or building fires on a daily basis.
Bob Clearmountain's IG post
Smells Carried Every Day
Smells are burned into the memories of first responders and rescue forces every day. Ordinary people, even when living in risk zones, face a natural disaster firsthand, maybe once or twice over several years, if at all. People don’t need to deal with smells from car accident areas or from buildings or areas that are burnt out because of random failure, whether the cause was human or random failure that no one could have prevented. But first responders and rescue forces breathe these smells every day because this is their job.
Public Blame and Responsibility
Since these wildfires started, I have read and listened to people’s opinions and accusations online. I have also talked with residents of Southern California and heard their complaints. To sum up, the list mainly revolves around politics, from the political parties, the president, the governors, mayors, and environmental defenders to the support of the chief fire department in the LGBTQ community.
I wonder why no one has accused George Washington, Rosa Parks, Al Qaeda, or the aliens yet. Apparently, the people who were affected or are close to being affected by these wildfires are experts in pointing out who to blame, yet somehow, they forgot to look in the mirror and see the first person responsible for what is happening these days. Every resident living in a state with a high risk of natural disasters, reading or listening to the news about budget cuts on the line or fire department protests and moving on to the next item, or switching the channel on TV is more liable than anybody else who holds an official position. Has anybody heard about public workers' protests in recent years? Does anybody know what the cause of the latest city workers' protests was about?
Jennifer Grey’s home
The Complexity of Responsibility
Natural disasters or any other catastrophe, whether caused by accidental human failure or intentional harm, are handled by the same personnel responsible for public safety, which includes first responders and rescue forces. While human failure or deliberate harm can be predicted to some extent, nature has its own way and often surprises people by showing off its power and unpredictability. Natural disasters that cause severe damage usually happen once every several years or decades, and no one can predict their level of intensity. They are nothing like the daily activities and operations that first responders and rescue forces deal with regularly.
Natural disasters cannot be entirely prevented; therefore, to mitigate their impact significantly, humans should reduce the human factor that causes them and do everything possible to prevent them. Therefore, the responsibility for dealing with or failing to deal with them is complex and often the result of multiple failures over time, not the actions of a single person or decision. The funding budget for first responders and rescue forces is the result of systemic, political, and cultural dynamics that intersect in complex ways.
Stevie Aiello’s home
When Facing Nature
When nature becomes more frequent and unpredictable, the way we planned and built on it until now is no longer effective, and we need to change the structure and core funding from scratch. If the system was already complicated and budgets came from separate sources of funding, such as local, state, and federal levels, and were not transparent or accessible to the average citizen, a change is required at the core of it.
Sam Harman's IG post. Link to GoFundMe.
Governor Newsom’s Website
The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, launched yesterday a website with all the information regarding fire department funding to stop feeding conspiracy theories and the cycle of lies. According to the data published there, since 2019, Cal Fire's budget increased from $2 billion to $3.8 billion, and personnel expanded from 5,829 to 10,741. Additionally, a $1 billion budget was allocated in 2021 for fire prevention, with $200 million committed annually. Despite these increases in funding, the systems are overwhelmed by the surge in wildfires because no one was prepared to handle a scenario like what we are seeing today. The number of fires, their capacity, their intensity, and the areas they consume are all at unprecedented levels. The wildfires show that even substantial investments cannot fully address the growing scale of natural disasters. Even with preventative efforts, humans are still powerless against the sheer force and unpredictability of nature.
When natural disasters become more frequent, intense, and destructive, it speaks volumes. It alerts us that past preparedness plans are not only insufficient but also not built in a way that addresses the reality of climate change we are facing today. It is time to reimagine and rebuild public preparedness plans to meet the challenges of our time. Currently, we live on patches over patches, and these patches are no longer holding. The public deserves a solid and sustainable work plan that is fit for today’s reality rather than plans that were created a century ago based on what was required then.
Dan and Alisha Kalisher’s home and memories. Link to GoFundMe.
Many of the principles governing disaster response funding were established decades ago when the scale of disasters was much smaller. These systems were designed for isolated, smaller-scale disasters and lack the capacity to handle the compounding effects of simultaneous events, as we see today.
It is like trying to draw water from a well that was dug 100 years ago. While the water might still be good, the well was originally built to supply a small village, not a city that has grown tenfold in size. What worked for a smaller population in the past can no longer sustain today’s demands. Just as that well would need to be re-dug, expanded, or completely replaced, so must our approach to disaster preparedness. The systems we rely on must be modernized to reflect today’s realities, not the needs of a bygone era.
CBS News animated map of Palisades Fire - the largest blaze ravaging Southern California
Failing Those Who Protect Us
Why is it that the public only wakes up when it is too late? Why do abortion rights or the Gaza war make you take to the streets and make your opinion visible, but your own safety does not? How is it that foreign policy motivates marches, but your life and the safety of your community do not? How many of you have ever participated in a protest or rally supporting public personnel like firefighters, health workers, or first responders? We failed them. The public failed all of them.
Firefighters and first responders have fought the public’s battles alone. No one backed them when they screamed for help, warning that they lacked proper equipment, sufficient personnel, and the resources needed to protect the public. The media framed their protests as union disagreements, but that was not the case many times. These are the people who smell the horrors of their job every day and who provide aid while witnessing atrocities as part of their daily routine. Their professions consume their souls. The mental burden they carry stays with them for years. What has the public given them in return? Complaints about pensions and early retirement. Could you handle their job for a year? A month? A week? Or even a day? Who can handle what they see and smell daily?
While they fight the public’s battles, they are left to face accusations of being overfunded or privileged because of pensions or early retirement plans. While they breathe the smells of devastation every day, putting their lives on the line for ours, we sleep safely. What is the public’s responsibility to give them back after all these years of service? They breathe these smells every day and for the rest of their lives. They remember, even when you forget.
A family in the Eaton Fire (Bette Midler’s IG)
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Liat
In this journey, I weave together episodes from my life with the rich tapestry of Israeli culture through music, food, arts, entrepreneurship, and more. I write over the weekends and evenings and publish these episodes as they unfold, almost like a live performance.
Each episode is part of a set focused on a specific topic, though sometimes I release standalone episodes. A set is released over several days to make it easier for you to read during your busy workday. If one episode catches your attention, make sure to read the entire set to get the whole picture. Although these episodes are released in sets, you can read the entire newsletter from the beginning, as it flows smoothly, like music to your ears - or, in this case, your eyes.