It’s a bit like a recurring nightmare: Every 2 or 3 years parts of southern California are scorched by out-of-control wildfires, leaving behind billions of dollars in loss and damage as well as needless loss of life. While this round of fires has been particularly devastating, it is hardly out of the ordinary.
Some folks are having a grand old time blaming the victims for their own losses, but I don’t believe that’s fair. Since many of the homes that have been destroyed this time around were located in developed areas instead of somewhere out in the woods, there was no real way for the homeowners themselves to prepare for such a fast-moving firestorm. As for the people who lost homes that were out in the woods, all I can say is it’s real easy to fall into the mindset of “It won’t happen to me!”.
All of that being said…
Yes, I believe it’s unfair to lay all the blame for the widespread destruction currently taking place in the Golden State on the homeowners, but they should consider this event a cold, slap-in-the-face style wake-up call. They should now understand that “it” can indeed happen to them, and they should take whatever precautions are necessary to prevent the next one from taking their home and/or life.
The first thing that needs to be done is to call in the bulldozers to “cut” a series of firebreaks: bare-dirt “buffers” between the woodlands and the densely populated areas. I know the environmentalists will scream bloody murder, but sacrificing a few hundred acres of trees and underbrush here and there seems like a reasonable and logical trade-off compared to the loss of thousands of homes and businesses to yet another out-of-control wildfire.
The same thing goes for individual homes located out in the woods. Firebreaks need to be constructed around each building, and they need to be wide enough to prevent the famous Santa Ana winds from spreading across them.
While we shouldn’t blame the fires’ victims for their own losses this time around, if those who were lucky enough to avoid the flames fail to heed the clear, stark warning they have received over the last few days, they’ll surely be to blame when their turn rolls around.