Hometown is on fire again.
Huge, scary, super-fast fire. D: Much bigger and closer to home than the [ Tea Fire].
Selfishly, my folks are okay. ♥ Though the evacuation warning area is creeping closer to them. *frets*
Unselfishly, it is a huge, destructive fire that's taken out lots of homes, caused thousands of evacuations, and has also burned through the Botanic Gardens.
[Photo: Kira Jones / The Independent]
[Photo: Emma Campbell / The Independent]
Of course the weather's been super-hot and super-windy and super-dry, which is never good news for a fire. Apparently some of the flames have been reaching up to 100 feet. Gah. I have no idea how firefighters do their jobs, but they are super-awesome. Especially since they are apparently pulling 24-hour shifts, which doesn't seem like the safest idea. *thinks good thoughts at all the firefighters*
What really kills me, though, is the politics involved in the firefighting. Okay, so, the fire started on Tuesday a couple hours after noon, right? Well, the planes to drop the water and retardant had to go to Porterville (2 hours roundtrip) instead of Santa Maria (30 minutes roundtrip) because the Forest Service apparently [didn't renew their contract] with the fire retardant people at Santa Maria. WTF? If there's a ginormous fire where people's lives and property are at risk, why the frak do you send the planes further away just because of a stupid contract? Why can't you just be helpful and worry about the politics after the fire's been contained? They opened Santa Maria by emergency decree around noon on Wednesday, but that's almost a full 24 hours of sending the planes 4 times further away than necessary. UGH.
On that note, I got a kick out of this [snide article] about how epic disasters are as much about the strategic photo ops as about combating the disaster and actually caring for the people affected (towards the end of the article). And, in particular, the article pokes at the Governator's visit.
Also, there are [fake telemarketers] asking for money for the firefighting efforts. PEOPLE SUCK.
Okay, back to being selfish. I just called my mum to check in 'cause I'd seen the evac warning lines creeping closer (on this handy [Google Map], which is at least one example of people being awesome, because the news sites never seem to include up-to-the-minute maps of the entire area and I never knew all the street names even when I lived in SB). Anyway, my mum told me it got really scary bad last night, and she and my stepdad actually packed stuff to put in the car and they could see flames from the front yard and they didn't even go to bed until midnight because it was scary. There hasn't been a fire actually that close to my house since the Painted Cave Fire in 1990. (I was 7, and I still remember the orange glow too close, and putting things in the car. I think we were actually under evacuation warning then, too, though we never actually had to leave.) I feel so sad for the people who do have to leave and who do lose their homes. :(
[Photo: Paul Wellman / The Independent]
Aww, it's like that part in Mulan where they find the little doll in the burned-out village. :(
Jesusita Fire coverage at the [Independent].
Wildfires. C'est la vie, in California.
Selfishly, my folks are okay. ♥ Though the evacuation warning area is creeping closer to them. *frets*
Unselfishly, it is a huge, destructive fire that's taken out lots of homes, caused thousands of evacuations, and has also burned through the Botanic Gardens.
[Photo: Kira Jones / The Independent]
[Photo: Emma Campbell / The Independent]
Of course the weather's been super-hot and super-windy and super-dry, which is never good news for a fire. Apparently some of the flames have been reaching up to 100 feet. Gah. I have no idea how firefighters do their jobs, but they are super-awesome. Especially since they are apparently pulling 24-hour shifts, which doesn't seem like the safest idea. *thinks good thoughts at all the firefighters*
What really kills me, though, is the politics involved in the firefighting. Okay, so, the fire started on Tuesday a couple hours after noon, right? Well, the planes to drop the water and retardant had to go to Porterville (2 hours roundtrip) instead of Santa Maria (30 minutes roundtrip) because the Forest Service apparently [didn't renew their contract] with the fire retardant people at Santa Maria. WTF? If there's a ginormous fire where people's lives and property are at risk, why the frak do you send the planes further away just because of a stupid contract? Why can't you just be helpful and worry about the politics after the fire's been contained? They opened Santa Maria by emergency decree around noon on Wednesday, but that's almost a full 24 hours of sending the planes 4 times further away than necessary. UGH.
On that note, I got a kick out of this [snide article] about how epic disasters are as much about the strategic photo ops as about combating the disaster and actually caring for the people affected (towards the end of the article). And, in particular, the article pokes at the Governator's visit.
Also, there are [fake telemarketers] asking for money for the firefighting efforts. PEOPLE SUCK.
Okay, back to being selfish. I just called my mum to check in 'cause I'd seen the evac warning lines creeping closer (on this handy [Google Map], which is at least one example of people being awesome, because the news sites never seem to include up-to-the-minute maps of the entire area and I never knew all the street names even when I lived in SB). Anyway, my mum told me it got really scary bad last night, and she and my stepdad actually packed stuff to put in the car and they could see flames from the front yard and they didn't even go to bed until midnight because it was scary. There hasn't been a fire actually that close to my house since the Painted Cave Fire in 1990. (I was 7, and I still remember the orange glow too close, and putting things in the car. I think we were actually under evacuation warning then, too, though we never actually had to leave.) I feel so sad for the people who do have to leave and who do lose their homes. :(
[Photo: Paul Wellman / The Independent]
Aww, it's like that part in Mulan where they find the little doll in the burned-out village. :(
Jesusita Fire coverage at the [Independent].
Wildfires. C'est la vie, in California.