| FEBRUARY 3, 2025 -- January 2025 started off with a huge wildfire in Southern California, a three month drought and winds of 80 to 100 miles per hour. This is the perfect storm for disaster and it happened.
Residents evacuating were forced to abandon cars in the exit roads, preventing fire trucks in getting to the area to fight the fast moving fires. Bulldozers were called in to open the roads. This caused hours of delay in the response. Because of the size of the fires, fire hydrants went dry due to the amount of water being pumped to subdue the ever-growing fire. It was three days before the winds were safe for aircraft to fly and dump water and retardants on the fires. As of this writing, over 5,500 homes have been destroyed and the fire is still raging. Many Monday morning quarterbacks are spreading the blame, posting fake photos and information. As in all disasters the good, the bad, the ugly journalism is out there 24 hours a day, seven days a week. False information causes death and unnecessary harm to those who are suffering huge losses. Some have stated these fires are the wrath of God. If true, the Bible’s last wrath of God was Noah’s flood, all the evil dies. God built the world in seven days and left Adam and Eve to care for the animals and care for the forest, plants and flowers. I think Mother Nature is letting us know that we are not good husbandmen of Earth, as the “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” commercials of the 1980’s. “It’s not nice to fool
Mother Nature.”
Natural disasters are growing into more frequent events. In Connecticut, our brush fire season is usually March to May, yet this year we had major brush fires in October and November with numerous Red Flag Days.
In other news, Prospect Medical Holdings, which acquired Manchester, Rockville and Waterbury Hospitals in 2016, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This holding group has been known to close services, layoff staff and in 2013 had a ransomware attack which crippled the hospital computer systems. Hospitals had to return to paper charts, lab work, and records and were unable to retrieve patient history or insurance information. This event turned typical two hour emergency room visits into seven to nine hour events.
Our community hospitals should not be operated by for-profit groups. They don’t know how to run hospitals and are jeopardizing our community healthcare system.
In January, the 47th President of the United States took office. We are all waiting to see what he and his appointees are able to accomplish along with Congress. After watching some of the confirmation hearings, it seems to be a huge waste of time and money.
All I can say is “Buckle Up Buttercup!” It’s going to be very interesting.
Valentine’s Day is great for the economy. Take out the one you love. Think spring!
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