We're from California living east of Los Angeles for about 13 years, and saw more than our share of wildfires. There's a reason they always have such intense fires out there, the land is nothing but brush and scrub. Southern California is basically a desert existing on the water they steal from elsewhere (Northern California, Nevada, Arizona). It does not rain in Southern California between April and November, at all! Then throw in the Santa Ana winds that blow this time of year (that's a hot wind that blows in off the desert) and you have all the makings of a disaster. We always said there are only 3 seasons in California, Summer, Earthquake and Fire.
Where we lived 7 inches of rain was considered a good year. We had a huge fire one year that burned many houses because people had been unable to remove brush from near their houses. The reason for that, Kangaroo Rats, a protected species. Environmentalist will always take the extreme position and favor an animal over a human. Insurance companies stopped this from happening again.
So I feel sorry for the folks losing their homes, but when you build or buy in a fire prone area don't be surprised when it burns.
By the way, where's the President, isn't he supposed to speak out in times of disaster?
only if his name is Bush, and then he's responsible for the disaster....perhaps even setting the fire, kind of like he blew up the levee!
ReplyDelete