California on fire

So much haze. It’s like living in a campfire.

I’m not trying to be a dick here and I’m going to assume that was meant in relatively good fun. But 10% of the population of my state is under an evacuation order. Whole communities have burned to the ground and we don’t know how many are dead yet or if these fires are going to get worse. Our air quality over the last few days has been the worst in the world, to the point where it gives you a headache and burns your lungs if you go outside. So, maybe, exercise some empathy and keep comments like this in your head and off the forum.

People seem to forget that if enough fires were set in a short time in most cities the entire city could be destroyed in a fire storm.
While wooden structures are rare in the downtown districts even asphalt will burn in a fire storm.
In older cities with historical buildings many of these buildings are fire traps just awaiting ignition.
Then you have the rail yards.
A sister in law worked for a major railway and one morning aprox 300 boxcars full of various flammables went up in smoke. The photos looked like something from Dresden.

PS
"
A Fresno man was arrested in connection with the 2,500-acre Dolan Fire near Lucia and Big Sur.

Ivan Geronimo Gomez, 30, faces charges of arson on forest land, throwing something at a vehicle intending to cause great bodily injury and illegally growing marijuana, according to the Monterey County Jail's website.

His bail is set at $2 million.

It's unclear whether all three charges stem from the same alleged incident.

The Dolan Fire started at about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday in the Los Padres National Forest, about 10 miles south of Big Sur, according to the U.S. Forest Service."


https://www.thecalifornian.com/stor...-arson-suspect-dolan-fire-big-sur/5609484002/

"
A man has been charged with arson after turning himself in for allegedly starting the Ranch 2 Fire in Azusa, California.

Osmin Palencia, 36, was charged with one felony count each of arson during a state of emergency and arson of a structure or forest, the Los Angeles District Attorney's office announced in a press release Tuesday.

"The defendant, who lives in a tent near the Mountain Cove community, allegedly started the fire on August 13 during an argument, prosecutors said," the press release stated.

Palencia turned himself in to the Azusa Police detectives on Sunday, three days after the fire began, the Azusa Police Department said in a press release Sunday.

The Los Angeles Fire Department named the blaze that began in the Azusa Canyon Riverbed the Ranch Fire — which has now spread to 4,300 acres. The fire is at 19 percent containment as of Wednesday, Angeles National Forest Service announced."

https://people.com/crime/california...turning-himself-in-for-starting-ranch-2-fire/

"
SAN JOSE, Calif. —
A man who authorities say traveled from Missouri to Northern California to set more than a dozen wildfires by tossing flaming pieces of paper out of his rental car's window has been charged with 15 counts of arson.

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Freddie Owen Graham of Lone Jack, Missouri, was jailed Thursday on $500,000 bail.

He was arrested Monday as he tried to return his rental car to a San Jose Airport.

The San Jose Mercury News reports that Graham, 68, declined through his public defender to discuss the case.

Authorities say he set 13 fires on Friday and Saturday

Although the blazes caused no injuries or structural damage, they took dozens of firefighters using aircraft, bulldozers and other equipment hours to extinguish. One blaze, near the Calaveras Reservoir, blackened less than a quarter of a square mile over half a square kilometer.

Prosecutors say Graham drove through a foothill area northeast of San Jose, throwing flaming paper out of his car as he went."

https://www.kcra.com/article/missouri-man-arson-california-wildfires/29256527#

"
Brandon N. McGlover, 32, of Temecula, California, was arrested on suspicion of five counts of arson. He was being held on $1 million bail, accused of setting the Cranston Fire and other fires in southwest Riverside County, officials said.

According to jail records, he was being held at the Cois Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta, California, and is expected to appear in court Friday morning.

Officials announced McGlover's arrest Wednesday night, hours after the Cranston Fire began.

July 25: Yosemite behind a 'smokescreen': Scenes from the Ferguson Fire evacuation

The fire was the largest of at least five that police believe were purposely set Wednesday by a man whose car was reportedly spotted at the starting point of the blaze in Riverside County, officials said."

https://www.abc10.com/article/news/...fire/465-a478c941-f1af-49b9-94b8-75d88bb974e6

Your objection to news stories of know arson incidents contributing to these wildfires makes no sense.
There's nothing political and certainly nothing funny about information of the situation.
There are arsonists at work as well as simple minded "fire bugs" roaming about. Fire bugs get excited by the natural fires and are compelled to start their own. There's no logical reason for their actions.
Acts of arson have claimed thousands of lives over the years, especially arson motivated by revenge. Their actions are criminal and sometimes even due to unhinged reasoning, but with a certain logic. They seek to achieve a end.
The fire bug on the other hand is driven by a compulsion, sometimes sexual, that knows no logic. The fire is for the fire's own sake.

You can also expect more banal motives, the insurance job. The perp hoping his act will be un noticed among the general destruction. The Covid mess has put many small businesses on the ropes, and a fire insurance claim might seem a way out.

As police have asked the public "if you see something say something". Keep an eye peeled.

As you may be aware, Australia's heart goes out to citizens on the West Coast. We understand how you are all feeling and thinking. This photo was taken in the CBD, outside my shop, S/E Australia, Noon, New Years Eve 2019. What a birthday that was! We had evacuated our house, and were very fortunate to return home to find our house still there, though one house 80 meters (yards) away was gone. There were 22 houses lost in our suburb that day. We slept in our shop for 2 weeks as there was no power. Covid took a lot of those memories away, but one glimpse of the News of late and those memories, smell, fear and confusion all came flooding back. Take care everyone and look after those less fortunate. They are going to need it.

So do the French, the British, and those of every European nationality, also not entirely undeserved.
As the Klingons say "only fools fight in a burning house".

Yes, it goes back some years. Who couldn't remember "Elvis" arriving in Australia circa 2001. That was a first for Australia. "Elvis" being a (Erickson C-64 Air Crane)



More somberly, the deaths of the 3 American crew of the Coulson Co's, (pictured) Hercules C-130 Air Tanker in January this year 2020, fighting fires in Adaminaby NSW Australia. These guys gave their lives in a war where, everyone agreed on what the enemy was.

It finally was a great day in Northern California yesterday. I woke up to overcast skies, but you could not smell smoke when you stepped outside. Checked the air quality online and it was under 20. The skies cleared around noon and it was a perfect day. Finally spent some time outside and it was very busy out there - people were anxious to get out.

Woke up this morning to sunny skies but as soon as I stepped outside you could smell the smoke again. I think if you can smell the smoke - its not good even though the air quality online was only 40 - still in the green. I'm really tired of these fires and am praying for rain.

Examinations of the Silk Road mummies showed heavy carbon deposits in the lungs from long term exposure to smoke laden air. Not sure what to make of that.
Its been suggested that this was due to poorly ventilated dwellings and bio fuels used for cooking and staying warm in extreme cold weather.
IIRC one group of mummies were found together in the remnants of a collapsed tent, possibly having died in their sleep of Carbon Monoxide poisoning.