As W. said of the former head of FEMA in a Katrina context, “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.”

Except that this time I really think that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is doing a heck of a job in the overwhelming task of responding to the Eaton fire that devastated Altadena.

With half the homes in my hometown destroyed, along with so many of its businesses, schools and public places, no entity, public or private, is going to be perfect, or handle its response in a way that everyone likes. Two months on, the town is quite properly still grieving. Grieving everything. The tragic deaths of 17 residents, first and foremost.

The lack of official warning in a timely manner to west Altadena, where most of the people died, so far away from the point of origin on a ridge above Eaton Canyon that no one imagined the burning embers could fly there so quickly.

Grieving the loss of place, as places are important to us, too. The house where I grew up in the 1960s. I mean, I didn’t live there anymore, but I did like to drive by it every few years, peer down the driveway. Because I literally watched it being built, as we lived just up the block, and I stopped by every day after kindergarten to bother the contractors, collect the little coin-sized knockouts fallen to the ground from junction boxes. And now it’s flattened, all ashes. First house I ever bought, gone. My elementary and junior high schools, destroyed. I know some people had lousy school experiences. But I had some of the happiest days of my life at Noyes and at Eliot, and, given my job, was sometimes invited back, always a joy. Can’t ever do that again.

I bring up FEMA because, while I no longer had a home in Altadena, I’m impressed from just across the Arroyo by their work and their kind attitude about it. I’m not quite sure why, since our Linda Vista neighborhood was spared, but a couple of weeks ago two FEMA employees knocked on the door and asked if my house had sustained any damage and if there was anything they could do. It’s true — several large burning embers had fallen in my yard that wickedly windy night, and we were evacuated before dawn. I just thanked them for their work and they moved on.

And I like the clarifications about what FEMA does it is sending out, like: “Myth: I must add a disclaimer to my fundraising page stating that money raised won’t go toward home cleanup or rebuilding. Fact: In general, crowdfunding proceeds or other gifts do not impact how much funding a survivor will receive from FEMA. For example, FEMA generally would not consider a ‘help me raise money for my recovery’ fundraiser as a duplication of benefits.”

But I certainly get that not everything government is doing in this unprecedented time is well-done or well-met. I get it when a former Town Council member, Steve Lamb — who was born cranky, it’s true, even before his home burned down — complains that development regulations in what he calls “Commiefornia” are making it almost impossible to rebuild.

And I get — without entirely agreeing with it — the pushback county Supervisor Kathryn Barger is getting over a very well-meaning call for voluntarism on the road to recovery. “Volunteer with us to celebrate Earth Day in Altadena!” reads a poster inviting the public to closed-down Loma Alta Park every Saturday in April to paint murals, plant trees and do landscaping work in the park, as Hailey Branson-Potts reports in the L.A. Times.

“This is about as TONE DEAF to our reality as you can get!” read one of more than 100 comments on Barger’s official county Facebook page. “What is the point of opening a park in a toxic wasteland?” asks a resident. Another writes: “Hey kids, let’s take a break from all this trauma and drive by the old neighborhood to plant some trees.”

The grief has not subsided. These responses are a sign of that. There are many who will not abide by what they see as happy talk. There are others who are seriously concerned about the toxic waste that is surely lingering in the soil near the burned homes all around the park. Barger responds: “Some community members are questioning why this project, why a park if the surrounding community looks like a war zone and there’s so much need. But, I’ve also heard a lot of calls for re-establishing community services, so I’m supporting this project.”

There are no guidebooks for how to respond to a disaster on this scale. We’re all taking baby steps. Someday we’ll be able to walk without falling over.

Write the public editor at lwilson@scng.com.