Thursday, June 12, 2008

Burn!



While driving north on Highway 101 near King City, my partner Tony said, "I didn't think coastal fog came this far inland."



"That's not fog, it's a fire," I guessed correctly.



Dozens of wildfires have ignited across California this week and their press coverage seems to depend on how many affluent homes are burned down and how close the fire is to a major city. In the case of the "Indians Fire" above, there has been next to no news except by the Monterey County Herald (click here for the latest story), which reports that the fire in the Ventana Wildnerness has been burning since Sunday afternoon and has spread to over 11,000 acres, making it a true monster.



The atmosphere in the state feels like late fire season, which is usually August through October, and we're only in June. Though we are not being flooded and blown away by tornados like the Midwest, it looks like half the state is going to burn down before the summer is over.

3 comments:

Henry Holland said...

It looks like half the state is going to burn down before the summer is over

And then when it rains in February, there'll be mudslides and flooding and houses washed out to sea because there's no trees or groundcover to stop it! California is so awesome! :-)

So, according to the bible thumpers, the wildfires > mudslides are because we Californians are all homosexual atheist communist Islamo-terrorist sympathizers. What's the reason the Midwest, supposed bastion of Xtian values, is such a mess?

Beacongal said...

SFMike -- The California situation is quite dire this year, if you believe the astrological forecast. Don't know if you caught my recent post on "More Death Valley Days for California?" Here's a link, if you're interested:
http://astrologymundo.wordpress.com/2008/06/05/more-death-valley-days-for-california/

janinsanfran said...

In the book Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet, Mark Lynas suggests fire and flood is what California can expect. I've pulled some excerpts here. Meanwhile, I can testify we're sweltering in New York.

That's all anecdotal, not probative, of course.