THE FIVE fires that on January 9th were still blazing in and around Los Angeles were already among the most destructive in California’s history. The scale is staggering, even for a state accustomed to natural disasters. Roughly 130,000 people were told to leave their homes; 2,000 buildings have been destroyed. Because wildfires have come to seem more like a certainty than a risk here, a lot will not be insured. State Farm, an insurer, decided not to renew 70% of its policies in Pacific Palisades, one of the worst-hit areas. ABC Los Angeles reckons this has left 1,600 homes there uninsured. Fire crews faced an uneven fight: in the small hours of the morning the neighbourhood fire hydrants ran dry.