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In the past when there was a major disaster, liberals and conservatives would rise above politics and work together to do all that they could to help affected communities and then have serious debriefs and discussions about how to reduce the likelihood of such events and better respond when they occur. Unfortunately, Minnesota Star Tribune contributing columnist Andy Brehm and other conservatives have decided to be unserious and make unfounded political attacks, rather than be helpful. ("Climate change didn't cause the Los Angeles wildfires. Government incompetence did," Jan. 16.)

I grew up near the wildfire-devastated area of Altadena in Southern California; I have been a firefighter, and I was director of conservation for the state of California.

It is true that every few years during Santa Ana wind conditions, fires burn the chaparral hillsides above Pasadena and Altadena and burn hills around Malibu and the Pacific Palisades. Recently, these communities burned because the Santa Ana fire conditions were far more severe than in previous fires. The winds blasted down the mountain slopes at speeds of 50 to 100 mph, driving thousands of embers the size of baseballs horizontally across hundreds of blocks of these residential communities. As the Orange County fire chief said, there was no way to stop these fires. No amount of resources would have made a difference. A Cal Fire (state fire department) official said thousands of more fire engines would not have stopped these fires.

Critics have blamed public officials for inadequate water supplies. This is just nonsense and political posturing. Water pressure goes down when multiple fire engines are using water during large fire events due to the limits of the city plumbing system. This has nothing to do with diversion of water from Northern California to provide water to Southern California reservoirs. Water has been continuously available for the rest of the Los Angeles area during these disasters.

Leading climate scientists agree that the increasing global temperature, due to the release of greenhouse gases generated from the burning of fossil fuels, is causing more frequent extreme climatic events such as flooding, high winds, droughts and catastrophic fires. It is reasonable to conclude that the record dry year and severity of the Santa Ana winds have been affected by changing climate and thereby contributed to the extreme fire events in Los Angeles.

Reducing the impact of future extreme fire events will entail improving how we build homes and other structures to make them more fire-resistant. We already have the technology to make houses ember- and heat-resistant. Focusing on these kinds of issues will help protect communities in the future.

David Bunn, of Auburn, Calif., is a natural resources consultant, a former firefighter and a former director of the California Department of Conservation.