Both the fires, and my urge to do a faux-Bush-bash about the disaster

management here. First of all, I already did that bit during the 90

minutes of sheer hell that was the Great Los Angeles Blackout of a few

weeks ago. But also, because the disaster management here has been

spectacular. The news coverage references Katrina about every five

minutes in some way, i.e. the “lessons” we learned, or something like

that — Katrina is very much a backdrop to this situation. But from

the get-go, a massive local interagency coordination of resources

worked exactly as designed.

Again, many thanks to all concerned Corner readers. We are safe, and

thanks again to all the men and women who fought this fire. It helps

that this situation crops up every few years so their techniques are

refined, but these guys are good.