Surely the wonder is that California always has so much land to burn. And, is it just me, or do you also wonder why people continually tempt Mother Nature by building homes where she clearly intended only trees to grow…? Indeed, I don’t think she could have made her contempt any clearer than when she burned the presumptuously named Paradise to the ground in 2018, making it the most destructive wildfire in California history.
Meanwhile, it’s not like people affected by these seasonal wildfires are stuck on small islands with nowhere else to live. By contrast, those in the Caribbean live like sitting ducks in the path of seasonal hurricanes. For more on this juxtaposition, I refer you to “Wildfires Rivaling Hurricanes,” October 10, 2017.
That said:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a Monday press briefing he is ‘deploying every resource available to battle the historic wildfires’ chewing up the landscape and swallowing homes across the state.
Since the start of the year, a total of 1.4 million acres have burned and a staggering 1.2 million of those acres (roughly the size of the Grand Canyon National Park) are a result of a rash of fires that began in the last week, Newsom said.
At this same time last year, 56,000 acres had been charred due to wildfires 25 times less than this year. In 2019, the state saw most of its wildfire activity in the fall.
(SFGate, August 24, 2020)
Today’s title reflects this new normal as well as my informed resignation. Because Mother Nature seems hell-bent on making this a seasonal rite and we seem utterly helpless to stop her.
This is why I see no point in commenting anew. Instead, in Groundhog-Day fashion, I shall suffice to reprise what I wrote two years ago in “California Burning: ‘The New Normal’?” August 2, 2018.
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As fire crews struggled to gain containment on more than a dozen wildfires raging across California Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown told reporters that large, destructive fires would probably continue and cost the state billions of dollars over the next decade. …
State officials said more than 13,000 firefighters are currently on duty, fighting 16 large fires that have burned a total of 320,000 acres and displaced more than 32,000 residents.
(The Los Angeles Times, August 1, 2018)
To date, 1,018 homes have been destroyed. And the fires are still threatening over 17,000. But, miraculously, only 8 people have been killed.
Governor Brown is sounding the alarm about this becoming “the new normal.” But this has been the norm for years.
After all, here is what I wrote about these recurring fires a decade ago (shamefully, with little concern about the climate change they represented) in “California Burning … Again,” November 17, 2008:
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No region has been more affected by the synergistic fallout from plummeting real-estate values and subprime mortgages than California. But these ‘apocalyptic’ fires might be a godsend for hundreds, if not thousands, of homeowners – who were facing imminent foreclosure on their McMansions. Because they can simply walk away from the charred remains and blame force majeure (i.e., an act of God) for not paying another red cent!
(“California’s Fiery Katrina,” The iPINIONS Journal, October 25, 2007)
Well, it’s deja vu all over again – as apocalyptic fires have returned to California.
No doubt you’ve heard about celebrities like Oprah Winfrey watching helplessly as temperamental fires threatened to destroy their homes in the wealthy California enclave of Montecito.
But it is worth noting that the vast majority of the more than 800 homes that have already been destroyed belong to ordinary people in far less affluent neighborhoods.
Therefore, whatever indifference (or schadenfreude) it evokes in you to watch obscenely rich folks lose some of their material possessions, please bear in mind that it’s relatively poor folks who are losing everything they own …
My prayers are with all those who have been affected, as well as those who remain in harm’s way.
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Ditto.
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With that, I can only hope against hope that, for the people of California, the fires next time will not be as devastating as they were this time. And perhaps God will show a little mercy by sparing them the head-spinning challenge of fighting fires in the midst of a pandemic …
Incidentally, reports are that a garden-variety pyrotechnic device at a stupid, gender-reveal party sparked this latest scourge of wildfires. Which is why I wonder when it will occur to America’s enemies (like Russia, China, Iran, or even Venezuela) to dispatch teams of arsonists to set wildfires in California, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada, annually. That is, if this hasn’t already occurred to them.
After all, I can think of no better, asymmetrical way to inflict apocalyptic economic damage while causing relatively little loss of life — without leaving any identifiable markers of responsibility.
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new normal... wildfires rivaling hurricanes… California burning…