Getty Fire 2019

In October 2019, Los Angeles decided that the Sepulveda Pass wasn't already dramatic enough, so the universe lobbed a spark near the 405 and Getty Center Drive and called it the Getty Fire. Fuelled by ferocious Santa Ana winds — nature's way of reminding Californians that hairdryers exist — the blaze scorched roughly 745 acres, sent half of the Westside into evacuation mode, and achieved the impossible: it made the 405 even slower than usual. Remarkably, the Getty Center itself, that vast marble fortress atop the hill, emerged completely unscathed, essentially shrugging its shoulders and muttering something smug about fire-resistant architecture.

Evacuation Lights: The Green Men Who Knew Where the Exit Was

A pathway emergency guidance light illustrating the illuminated coverage area for an evacuation route leading towards an emergency exit

Here's the thing about evacuations: they work considerably better when people actually know where they're going. During the Getty Fire, with smoke blotting out the sun and Sepulveda Boulevard resembling a car park designed by a sadist, one couldn't help but admire the philosophy behind proper evacuation guidance. The image above shows a Japanese pathway guidance light, meticulously engineered to illuminate the route to an emergency exit with the coverage range marked out like a polite, glowing butler saying, "This way to safety, please." Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, our guidance system consisted largely of text alerts, frantic Waze refreshes, and one bloke in a 4x4 gesturing vaguely towards Brentwood. Perhaps there's a lesson here about investing in genuinely thoughtful emergency signage rather than assuming everyone has satellite navigation and a calm disposition.

Class B or Class C? Japan Rates Its Exit Lights Like Fine Wine

A Class B emergency guidance light, part of Japanese evacuation lighting signage designed to mark escape routes during fires and other emergencies

Leave it to Japan to grade its emergency lights with the rigour other nations reserve for Michelin stars. There's a whole classification system — Class B versus Class C guidance lights — governing brightness, battery endurance and where each may be installed. Compare that to the Getty Fire experience, where the illumination strategy was "pray the battery pack works and follow the car in front, slowly". The fire was eventually traced to a tree branch flopping onto power lines in the wind, which prompted lawsuits, settlements, and a renewed national debate about infrastructure that the utility company presumably found rather illuminating.

The Getty Fire was contained within about a fortnight, and whilst dozens of homes were sadly destroyed — no laughing matter, to be clear — the wider lessons endure: pack a proper go-bag, sign up for alerts, keep the garden clear of tinder, and perhaps, just perhaps, install some jolly good guidance lighting. Ideally Class B. One never knows when the 405 will catch fire again — or simply be on fire, metaphorically, as per every Friday at five.