I was inspired to write this blog after viewing CBS Sunday Morning on January 25, 2025 that described the innovative, creative ways homeowners are rebuilding their homes, making them highly fire resistant. I connected the stories shared in this segment of CBS Sunday Morning with what I believe resonates with our spirit as Americans to be resilient and creative.
According to MSN News, the Eaton Fire burned a total of nearly 40,000 acres in Los Angeles, and the Palisades Fire burned 23,448 acres on the west side of Los Angeles. Most of us have seen on television the devastation that occurred and the heartbreaking stories that homeowners shared.
Here is some of what reporter Ben Tracy shared in this powerful CBS segment:
- Builders have developed houses they call “Q-cabins,” which stands for “Quonset huts.” Wikipedia defines these as “lightweight prefabricated structures of corrugated galvanized steel with a semi-circular cross-section. The design was developed in the United States based on the Nissen hut introduced by the British during World War I. Hundreds of thousands were produced during World War II, and military surplus was sold to the public. The name comes from the site of their first deployment at Quonset Point at the Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center in Davisville, Rhode Island.”
- The builders say these homes cost about the same to build as those that are based on wooden structures that use two by fours. These new buildings use noncombustible siding and sheathing.
- These expert builders state that embers in a fire can get through the older style window frames. This new construction prevents that from happening.
- Ben Tracy shared some of his interview with the pastor of the local Lutheran Church whose building is now being rebuilt with all these designs to create a fire-resistant church. He asked, “What is it like for people to see this new church?” The pastor said, “It is so exciting for everyone. It is so beautiful to see how people in the community are not giving up.”
Trevor Noah, host of this year’s Grammy Awards which aired on February 2, began the show highlighting the many ways neighbors are helping neighbors, all the ways firefighters have bravely risked their lives to combat the fires, and the overall determination to not let these fires destroy the American spirit we are famous for.
An interesting sidenote about Americans: Many years ago at a presentation at my local high school, the speaker Dr. Edward Hallowell shared the following information about ADHD that he later shared in an interview with Dr. Ben Dean, the founder and president of the MentorCoach Training School. In the interview in May 2015, Hallowell asserted that “The people who colonized this country were loaded with the ADHD genes, hence our current gene pool is well stocked with ADHD. It has driven our greatest successes–but is also why we are such a violent nation.” He described how the most challenging, difficult and rebellious people were sent to the colonies to make England and other countries safer and easier to rule. Thus, America is known as a country of very passionate, creative, determined and highly motivated people. These are the kind of people who are engaged in the efforts to rebuild the fire torn regions in California. These people (and therefore all of us) have inherited our abilities to be resilient and resourceful. We are a people who can find what is needed to help America survive even when facing extremely challenging problems.
Like most of you, I am proud to be an American and I treasure all that makes us strong, resilient and capable of maintaining and, when needed, restoring the American spirit and abilities to unite and care for each other.
Invitation for Reflection
1. What thoughts, feelings and sensations did you experience as you read this blog?
2. If you could, what would you want to tell all those impacted by the fires in California? Those who came to their rescue?
3. What can we all learn from what happened in California?
4. What do you want the children and teens in your life to appreciate about the ways the American spirit shone through all the pain and loss that occurred as a result of the fires?
Diane Wagenhals
Director Emeritus, Lakeside Global Institute