As Los Angeles burned out, firefighters rushed into our city from close to far away. Crews all over California. Texas, Oregon, Arizona, tribal reservations, Mexico and Canada (despite the threat of US tariffs) took part in the fight against the flames. Even Ukraine, which fought, provided help.
This is mutual aid, a “spirit of cooperation,” and the Los Angeles Fire Department declared in a statement on the policy in a November statement, “to ensure that jurisdiction does not face a major emergency.”
It’s great that the community provides mutual assistance with each other in emergencies. But we don’t have to wait for the crisis to come together. Cities such as Los Angeles can understand each other how to use new technologies, policies, and prevention and control strategies to mitigate future fires.
Wildfires are an increasingly significant risk for cities around the world. Two major trends pose a threat. Climate change is exacerbating fires, cities are growing, increasingly pushing people up the wild-city interfaces where people live next to flammable vegetation. The destruction we witnessed in Pallisad and Altadena in the Pacific will happen again. The only question is, when and where? The departure committee of Australia’s largest fire service says Sydney can see fires that are very similar to the Los Angeles fires
All vulnerable cities need to be prepared, and that is a difficult task. Fire station training, staffing and equipment are more than just preparing for a city wildfire. It also requires long-term slow changes in building standards and materials, urban planning, land use, housing density, and more.
But fortunately, you don’t have to go alone. Wildfire-prone cities across all worlds, including Los Angeles, Lisbon, Cape Town, Athens, Jakarta and Melbourne, can share information, expertise and practices to learn from each other.
For example, Singapore’s strict fire prevention laws, enacted by the aggressive civil defense forces, provide lessons on how to stop a fire before it begins. Utilities in Portland, Oregon may use AI modeling to determine where and when a fire will occur and deploy fire equipment and staff accordingly. Pittsburgh likewise employs predictive technology modeling.
After the Australian capital Canberra experienced a fatal fire in 2003, the city implemented a detailed fire prevention and response plan for individual lands. It is also developing a model of “shared community and fire services” to reduce risk and prepare for fires, according to the head of rural firefighters in Australia’s capital territory. Canberra models are replicable – and attracting attention in LA
Promoting policy cooperation and coordination is the job of urban networks and, fortunately, a trend in global politics. A 2021 survey identified more than 100 cross-border urban networks and had collective memberships for 10,500 cities. Organized networks link cities to many topics, including economic inequality, participatory democracy, peacebuilding, and response to climate change is one of the most prominent.
Climate-focused urban networks help local governments reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to local impacts of planetary climate change. Learning to live with wildfires is the latter example, with many networks supporting local government level climate adaptation. For example, the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group consists of 97 major global cities. According to the group’s 2023 report, its members are home to around 600 million people, producing less than a quarter of the world’s gross domestic product. Cities facing similar climates support many risk-specific networks that exchange information and collaborate on developing solutions. The C40 group includes the Connecting Delta City Network, Urban Flooding Network, and Cool City Network. This is a hub for tackling urban fever, which Los Angeles is a member of.
What’s not yet available is a dedicated urban wildfire network to focus on the best approaches and lessons learned among cities facing high risk of wildfires. Indeed, there is a cross-border network of relevant staff, including international associations of emergency managers, wild fire professionals, and fire chiefs, and added to international mutual aid agreements that encourage the deployment of first responders. Masu. Such a group is necessary, but not sufficient.
Addressing fire risk requires a complete local government solution, aiming to reduce reliance on first responders. City planners, public works engineers, neighborhood groups, park managers, wildfires and elected officials from cities around the world need to have regular conversations. Together, they can support research and planning to create new fire strategies.
Los Angeles is especially suited to help you lead your translation efforts. He has the only urban diplomat in the United States, the vice mayor of international affairs. Los Angeles is also a leader in urban networks. Former mayor Eric Garcetti was formerly chairman of the C40.
LA is now starting with a long road to recovery. The city may feel an understandable pull to head inward. But it also has the opportunity to see and learn from others who have walked this path before. Just as we rely on other cities to combat these fires, we need to rely on other cities to recover in a way that prevents or at least minimizes the destruction of the next city.
Jonathan S. Blake oversees the planetary program at the Bergleen Institute and is co-author of “Children of the Unassuming Stars: Planetary Thoughts in an Era of Crisis.” Joe Mathews is a fellow of Berggruen’s Renovation Democracy Program.
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