If you live in Los Angeles, maybe you’re in crisis at the moment. Even if your home didn’t burn, you still probably know someone who’s homeless. The wildfires seemed to spring up out of nowhere, and the destruction they caused will take decades to reverse. 

The fires have burned over 40,000 acres, as well as hundreds of homes. Even many of those who escaped must consider whether they want to continue living somewhere where such a tragedy could happen again.

The Los Angeles wildfires can teach us several lessons. Let’s consider each one.

Some people don’t like talking about climate change. That’s understandable. It’s not a pleasant subject. However, those who bury their heads in the sand and act like it’s not happening do the planet and the rest of humanity a disservice.

Several climate scientists look at the LA wildfires and see an undeniable climate change link. They feel that drier, hotter conditions created an effect called “weather whiplash.” Essentially, it means a time when you can see two opposing weather conditions, and they happen right after each other in the same region.

If that happens, you’re much more likely to see extreme weather events, such as wildfires, tornadoes, typhoons, hurricanes, etc. When these events occur, some individuals on TV might use language like “unprecedented” or “storm of the century.” In reality, those terms don’t apply anymore.

What seems like a storm of the century might become a yearly occurrence, and that’s because climate change continues practically unabated. California felt its wrath on this particular occasion. Anyone who thinks that something equally catastrophic won’t happen again doesn’t like looking at reality or dealing with its more undesirable aspects.

Los Angeles has extremely high rents. It’s a desirable part of the country, at least for individuals who like culture, sports, food, and many other perks.

However, the last crop of wildfires should also serve as a warning. More fires will likely come at some point, even when firefighters and changing weather conditions completely halt the current tragedy. To think that it’s all over when the last one goes out means ignoring what science and the evidence tells us.

While there’s never any guarantee a fire will happen in Los Angeles or anywhere else, drought-stricken California always has some risk element. Also, many experts feel that there’s no more “fire season,” or a specific time of the year when there’s a higher risk than at other times.

Grasses and shrubs can naturally burn in California, and they can cause wildfires. However, the increasing lack of rain in large swaths of the state means that there’s a higher risk of massive fires with each passing year.

Hollywood has made popular TV shows about it, like Fire Country. Many scientists feel that since not just California but the rest of the Western and Southwestern United States continues to see an ever-drier climate and higher temperatures, several states amount to little more than tinderboxes as we progress further into this century.

There’s a lot of negative that one might take from the LA wildfire situation. However, there’s also some undeniable positives that we should mention.

The wildfires showed many moments of heroism and of a community drawing together. Some firefighters battled the blaze for days. Some prisoners from local prisons did as well.

The rest of the US contributed millions of dollars in relief money through organizations like the Red Cross. It shows that when many individuals see a community’s collective suffering, they still do the charitable thing and reach out, giving what they can.

In a world where many people feel cynical, that’s a heartening thing to witness and to acknowledge.

Most people feel that firefighters should serve the public good. For the most part, that’s what happens. If a building goes up in flames, the fire department comes and does its utmost to put it out before there’s no further loss of property or life.

However, some individuals expressed outrage during the fire’s news coverage because they saw some firefighting forces deployed in certain areas while ignoring others. That’s because private firefighting companies exist. It’s not entirely a service that protects society as a whole.

Only individuals and families with enough money could hire these private firefighting forces. The others had to wait and see whether nature’s wrath would spare them or whether depleted firefighting resources could protect their homes in time.

It’s an example of how life differs for those who have money and those who don’t. However, since Los Angeles features enormous homeless encampments not far from palatial mansions, that wasn’t exactly a concept that many LA residents didn’t already know.

There was one additional lesson that’s worth mentioning that came out of the LA wildfires. Many of the families with homes that burned had fire insurance as part of their broader disaster insurance coverage. They might have a hard time getting their insurance companies to pay for the damage, though.

Insurance companies normally have for-profit status. In other words, they don’t want to pay out any more claims than they absolutely have to. That’s true with health insurance, but also all other kinds.

The insurance companies that will have to pay the families and individuals whose homes burned in these recent fires to cover loss of property will be out an untold and nearly unimaginable amount of money. It’s a foregone conclusion that some of these companies will try to find language in the policy terms that will keep them from paying as much, or anything at all.

Many families trying to collect insurance money from a burned home will have a tough battle ahead of them. However, this might lead to insurance companies feeling they can’t insure LA homes in the coming years at all.