By Timothy D. Naegele[1]

I am reminded of Robert Frost's poem "Fire and Ice":

Some say the world will end in fire,

  Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire,

  But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

  To know that for destructiveness ice

Is also great,

  And would suffice.[2]

Growing up a mile or so west of the UCLA campus in Los Angeles, I lived through too many earthquakes to count.  My parents built our home in 1937, and I was born in 1941.  It had withstood so many earthquakes that recently it was "bolted" down by professionals.  Yes, it has stood the test of time, but it needed a bit of "tender-loving care," which was understandable.

After the Northridge Quake, so many high-rise buildings were damaged in Southern California that it would have cost a fortune to remove the tenants, and let the buildings sit vacant while the work was being done.  So no work was done; and such buildings are poised to suffer major damage when the next "Big One" hits the area.[3]  Presumably the San Francisco Bay Area is subject to similar risks.

Indeed, the "Hayward Fault" runs down the center of Cal's football stadium in Berkeley, which was "retrofitted" a few years ago, to absorb the impact of devastating future earthquakes.  UCLA's Royce Hall and its Powell Library were retrofitted too, but nothing was done about lots of high-rise buildings, especially those in Marina del Rey that can be devastated by liquefaction.[4]

And yes, America's Poet Laureate Frost was correct: losses by earthquakes and fires are equally devastating.  I lived through at least two fires in Malibu, one of which was on the hillside above the Pacific Coast Highway when I was driving into Westwood; and we were stopped and going nowhere to allow emergency vehicles to come north.  Had the flames descended on us, we would have been toast.

After the flames were put out or burned themselves out, I hiked through some of the areas; and within days, small buds were growing again, providing hope that life would return.  Indeed, months later, I hiked through areas that had been decimated; and no one would know that a fire had ever passed that way, which will be true this time too.

Brave fire personnel descended on the fire areas from other states, which is true now as well.  And no, man-made "global warming" was not and is not a factor.  Our planet has gone through warming and cooling cycles for millions of years, which will continue after all of us and our inheritors are long gone.  Pollution is a separate issue, with India and China being the biggest polluters globally.[5] 

Lastly, do natural disasters like these bring out the worst in human nature?  A fight between the "haves" and "have-nots"?  It sure would seem that way at times.[6] 

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© 2025, Timothy D. Naegele

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[1]  Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate’s Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass).  See, e.g., Timothy D. Naegele Resume-21-8-6  and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/accomplishments/   He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University.  He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at The Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service).  Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/articles/ and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/articles/), and studied photography with Ansel Adams.  He can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com

[2]  See, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_and_Ice_(poem) ("Fire and Ice (poem)")

[3]  See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/08/earthquakes-the-big-one-is-coming-to-at-least-los-angeles/ ("Earthquakes: The Big One Is Coming To At Least Los Angeles")

[4]  See supra n.3.

[5]  See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/30/a-34-trillion-swindle-the-shame-of-global-warming/ ("A $34 Trillion Swindle: The Shame Of Global Warming")

[6]  See, e.g., https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14272741/A-listers-fight-sold-hotel-suites-fleeing-LA-mansions-sip-cocktails-Ozempic-delivered-rooms-city-burns-feels-like-scene-Titanic-reveals-CAROLINE-GRAHAM.html ("A-listers fight for sold-out hotel suites after fleeing LA mansions... but as they sip cocktails and have Ozempic delivered to their rooms while the city burns, it feels like a scene from The Titanic, reveals CAROLINE GRAHAM") and https://www.yahoo.com/news/far-hollywoods-wealth-los-angeles-060425162.html ("Far from Hollywood's wealth, Los Angeles fire survivors feel forgotten")