500,000 evacuated as California fires rage for third day

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071023/D8SF7PN00.html



Not enough hurricanes this year to keep the MSM busy.

 

Carlsbad, right on the water, is not far from Rancho Santa Fe, a bit inland, where I read residents were ordered to evacuate. RSF is the toniest community in San Diego County.

 

Governor Schwarzenegger to Native Americans: We'll give you more casinos, please, just make it rain!

 

The real problem here is the Santa Ana winds which, incidentally, usually peak in December which is not great news for residents of southern California.

 

Last year, when the forest fires engulfed the Pacific Northwest, the revelation that some contractors had hired illegal aliens to fight the blaze caused controversy. At least this year it won't be so far from their homeland! I'm never known San Diego County, the hardest hit, to be ablaze.

 

The fire is to the north and south of me. While the media in San Diego seems to be focusing on the Witch Creek Fire in North County, which is by far the largest, the Harris Fire in the south which has already gone through Tecate, USA and is nearing Chula Vista -- not exactly the rich part of the county. Even in North County inland areas like Vista and Escondito and Poway are not exactly Malibu and Rancho Santa Fe and they are right on the brink as well.

No one is blaming global warming as far as I know here. It has been dry couple of years and the Santa Ana winds are particularly bad. There are also a lot of plans in place from the last fires a few years ago. Basically the entire county is shut down until the weekend. Most people, obviously, live in urban areas which are not threatened by the fire. But, air quality is quite poor in many parts. Those of us not living in the north or south parts of the county are justing sitting and waiting.

 

How about the prohibition of clearing old-growth forests, including dead wood? Nah.

These fires have been around before man and ever since California became a desert. One lightening strike is all it would take, nowadays it's as simple as a piece of broken bottle in the midday sun.

 

opens the door for Arnie to beg for FEDERAL assistance. Why else all the hype? Okay, page hits and newspaper copies included.

 

This just in...

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/wildfires-get-...

I am with jambon. These fires have been around for literally centuries (I don't know about before man jambon, unless you got some proof). The only reason anybody gives a crap is because we've built homes and don't have controlled fires, which is what would be needed to prevent or at least minimalize these types of things.

Conclusion,

If you build homes where wildfires are a basic and intrical part of nature, you really should expect that at some point, there will be a fire. Go figure.