[Spridgets] The SoCal Fires

[Robert Bruce Evans]

Larry Daniels wrote:  "Are all of you area guys OK?....Anybody in the path?....Those fires do not look good. Stay safe."

These are, without a doubt, the worst Southern California fires I have seen in my 70 years.  At the present time, there are about 20 of them in a 175 long line from Piru in the north to San Diego in the South.  The devastation is beyond belief, and growing so quickly that even the media cannot keep count with the homes lost (c. 1,200) and acreage lost (c. 500,000).  The temperatures are still hovering near 100, and the winds reaching 70 mph.  Combined with the long drought, low humidity and dew point, Southern California has been a tinderbox.  Many of the fires would have ignited through natural combustion, but have been made worse by clear cases of arson.

Here in Anaheim, we are "safe";  a relative term since in similar weather 23 years ago, 10 square blocks across the street from our house were burned to the ground.  Outside, our temperature is 98, and the winds gusting no more that 25-30 mph.  Our swimming pool is a quagmire of dirt and debris carried in on the winds, and we have lost several "breakable" items outside.  Big deal.  (For the Sprite content, a massive tree branch broke and fell inches from the Sprite!  Uh, no driving of the Sprite in this weather!)

Our family has been affected.  Our daughter's mother-in-law was one of 300,000 in San Diego to be evacuated, and her home has probably been consumed by flames.  Our son, a new lieutenant with Animal Control, had just convinced the bureaucrats above that the department needed stronger emergency planning, equipment, and communications.  Whenever there is a disaster, from fires to floods to slides, they have to go into the danger areas to rescue pets, livestock, and wildlife.  He had just been given the green light to begin when these fire started.   And while he is involved in the rescues, they fear that the winds will change direction and sweep down on HIS house!  (His mentor, one of the other lieutenants, will in all likelihood, loose his house in the idyllic and bohemian Modjeska Canyon.

The only thing that angers me more than the arsonists is the attention given to the mega-buck residents of Malibu.  All the datelines are from "Malibu", all of the media panders to their beautiful homes at risk or lost.  But for years, they have haughtily refused to follow fire authority recommendations to clear away the brush, trees, and vegetative landscaping around the million dollar homes.  No, they insist on retaining their ambience and the lush growth that affords them the privacy they demand.  As a consequence, they are hit year after year with fires, only to rebuild with big insurance or Federal Government payouts.  But they rebuild with the same arrogant disregard of nature, and let the rest of us pay for their folly.  So when you hear of the homes of your movie star idols being threatened or burned, think instead of the families who are being burned out, without the insurance or resources to piece together their lives.

Buster Evans