Powerful winds sometimes accompany storms passing through Warren County.

However, this region is blessed in not having to endure windy onslaughts such as the hurricane-like Santa Ana winds that are responsible for the devastating, fast-spreading blazes that are wreaking havoc and causing mass destruction in California’s Los Angeles area.

The recovery there, when all of the blazes finally are extinguished and a full assessment of the devastation is completed, is going to be long, costly, arduous, nerve-wracking and filled with sadness over the losses endured — losses of lives and losses of property and irreplaceable possessions.

Many of the people who survived the fiery horror are destined not to see the recovery completed because of the length of time it will take to accomplish the monumental task.

Amid all of that is the question of how survivors of the fire will continue to deal with their losses of those dear to them, including facing the realities of how they died and how some must have suffered before a fiery death ended their journey in this life.

It is unimaginable even to people living thousands of miles away and never having known them personally.

But messages continue to emerge from the ruins and those who are continuing to suffer in and around the Los Angeles area.

One of those messages is the need for fire service preparedness, not only regarding the firefighting equipment in the various departments’ “arsenals,” but also the firefighting resources that exist beyond the departments’ headquarters and immediate service/coverage areas.

No one around here anticipates wildfires of the size and scope currently afflicting Los Angeles. However, are personnel of the various area fire departments fully up to date on water sources that could be tapped if immediate sources were not sufficient to fully extinguish the flames?

Have mutual aid agreements been reviewed and renewed, if necessary, recently so there won’t be any questions about response?

Are departments fully apprised of specialized equipment available at some departments but not at others?

Those questions might seem simplistic, but answering them needs to be a precursor to delving into more complex details that all departments need to be adept at examining and, if necessary, resolving or repairing.

“This is a tragic time in our history here in Los Angeles,” said Los Angeles City Police Chief Jim McDonnell. “It’s critical that at these times we be patient, that we come together, that we focus on saving lives.”

That thought is ingrained in the minds and hearts of fire departments of all sizes in this region, every time they answer a call in their own service territory as well as at those times when they are called in to assist on a larger and/or more complex call requiring additional equipment and manpower.

Pride and professionalism keep the fire service alive and committed here, but the dwindling manpower with which many departments across Pennsylvania are operating, both in the volunteer units and in the paid ranks due to municipal budget constraints, justify much concern, going forward.

Pennsylvania needs to consider — then implement — tax and/or higher education credits as incentives for bolstering the various fire and other emergency service ranks.