Unfortunately, nature's also likely not the cause of this situation. I'm a Californian myself, just a couple hours southeast of you. I've lived through multiple moderate to large fires. I've had the experience of watching the flames creep up the hills and through the valleys, drawing closer to your home during the night. I've stared at the silhouettes of mountains backed by orange and black, as if I were staring into Mordor. I've smelled that acrid smoke, watched the ashes fall, saw everything get blanketed and stuck with them and noticed how those smells lingered for weeks after the fact. In 2003, I drove through the communities destroyed by the Cedar fire. In 2007, I saw the destruction of the Witch Creek fire. In both cases, I had friends or friends of friends who lost their homes. I knew people from Harbison Canyon who had to leave because the homes in that community were burned to their foundations. I saw how the village of Crest was 90% wiped out, the majority of houses reduced to char and ash. Time and time again, I've seen both the human and economic impact of these disasters firsthand.
The common truth of these major firestorms is that nature rarely started them. A reckless individual did. Poor or thoughtless human decision making is almost always the root cause of these firestorms, while poor or thoughtless regulations result in them growing to the scope they reach.
Nature isn't to blame here, that's the hard truth people need to swallow. Callous though it might sound, we need to face up to the fact that these firestorms are the results of our own doing, the results of human error and human incompetence. It's a steep cost to pay for our poor decisions, and it's a cost we'll pay again if we don't put in the time and effort to learn from this disaster and make better choices in how we manage our lives, our communities, and our state.
Would that I could say I was confident we Californians would, but we've been through this lesson before. Like I said, time and time again, I've seen both the human and economic impact of these disasters firsthand. We failed to learn back then, so I have very little reason to believe we'll learn now.
I feel your angst. I live in the Sierra Nevada foothills in Northern CA and we're had our share of regional wildfires and the occasional evac advisory/warning/order. Summertime is the high risk time here, so pretty much from late June until the rains come in the fall we're on alert and looking at Watch Duty all the time. We expect smoky days on occasion and sometimes get ashfall; in 2020 the air was so foul for a few days that I blocked up every seepage point I could find in the house.
Oh Niccolo, my heart goes out to you and everyone affected by this. Just terrible. I hope you’re able to find safer ground, my friend. Sending all the love, hugs and prayers your way.
Feeling for you! We're in So. FL so we get the yearly hurricanes which aren't as bad as these fires. Climate crisis is going to do us all in--in the end. Sorry for negativity.... at least we haven't had any kids....
Nature is scary.
Unfortunately, nature's also likely not the cause of this situation. I'm a Californian myself, just a couple hours southeast of you. I've lived through multiple moderate to large fires. I've had the experience of watching the flames creep up the hills and through the valleys, drawing closer to your home during the night. I've stared at the silhouettes of mountains backed by orange and black, as if I were staring into Mordor. I've smelled that acrid smoke, watched the ashes fall, saw everything get blanketed and stuck with them and noticed how those smells lingered for weeks after the fact. In 2003, I drove through the communities destroyed by the Cedar fire. In 2007, I saw the destruction of the Witch Creek fire. In both cases, I had friends or friends of friends who lost their homes. I knew people from Harbison Canyon who had to leave because the homes in that community were burned to their foundations. I saw how the village of Crest was 90% wiped out, the majority of houses reduced to char and ash. Time and time again, I've seen both the human and economic impact of these disasters firsthand.
The common truth of these major firestorms is that nature rarely started them. A reckless individual did. Poor or thoughtless human decision making is almost always the root cause of these firestorms, while poor or thoughtless regulations result in them growing to the scope they reach.
Nature isn't to blame here, that's the hard truth people need to swallow. Callous though it might sound, we need to face up to the fact that these firestorms are the results of our own doing, the results of human error and human incompetence. It's a steep cost to pay for our poor decisions, and it's a cost we'll pay again if we don't put in the time and effort to learn from this disaster and make better choices in how we manage our lives, our communities, and our state.
Would that I could say I was confident we Californians would, but we've been through this lesson before. Like I said, time and time again, I've seen both the human and economic impact of these disasters firsthand. We failed to learn back then, so I have very little reason to believe we'll learn now.
I feel your angst. I live in the Sierra Nevada foothills in Northern CA and we're had our share of regional wildfires and the occasional evac advisory/warning/order. Summertime is the high risk time here, so pretty much from late June until the rains come in the fall we're on alert and looking at Watch Duty all the time. We expect smoky days on occasion and sometimes get ashfall; in 2020 the air was so foul for a few days that I blocked up every seepage point I could find in the house.
Anyway, stay safe.
You too, Kiran
Living through being inside a historical natural disaster? Not fun. It lives with you in your head for a long time. Stay safe, Niccolo.
Thanks CB, appreciate it
*bows in respect* You're very welcome.
Oh Niccolo, my heart goes out to you and everyone affected by this. Just terrible. I hope you’re able to find safer ground, my friend. Sending all the love, hugs and prayers your way.
Thanks so much MaKenna
Stay safe!
Thanks Mark
Yikes! This all sounds rather scary and surreal.
I hope you find safely and sanity soon.
Feeling for you! We're in So. FL so we get the yearly hurricanes which aren't as bad as these fires. Climate crisis is going to do us all in--in the end. Sorry for negativity.... at least we haven't had any kids....
Being in the middle of an historical event is rarely as fun as it appears in the movies.