The Los Angeles County wildfire inferno has sparked debates over climate change, home insurance costs, and water management. These are legitimate issues that should be addressed. But as the fires burn, as more and more people lose their homes, the immediate primary focus should be on extinguishing the flames and on the people who will have to rebuild their lives.
It’s called empathy and public officials can’t express it often enough to victims of any catastrophe. What precisely is empathy? It’s letting your community know what matters to you, matters to me. That’s what Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath did during a televised news briefing with dozens of public officials. Horvath was not interested in playing the blame game. Instead, she addressed the community with a compassionate message in the clip below.
Horvath may well have strong opinions on issues related to the fires, but this news briefing wasn’t the time or place to express them. With the fires still burning out of control, Horvath wanted the victims to know the entire community was hurting along with them.
Public officials and private sector spokespersons should follow Horvath’s example. In the middle of a catastrophe, addressing and helping people most affected by it should come first.