Nope, nothing to do with human-caused climate change, not here. Besides, it’s just those commiemuslinterrist enclaves near San Francisco that deserve to burn anyway.*
*Just beating my Kentucky co-workers to the trumpian punch.
Fire is the primary means of reproduction for redwood trees.
Those pictures I’ve seen are scary…but don’t worry California, Rumpass will be there in a week or so to pass out the paper towels. Just promise to clap when he arrives…
Scott Pruitt and Trump will fix this with the loosening of a few more environmental and climate change regulations. And, think of the newly created firefighter jobs, and construction jobs for rebuilding.
I live in the East Bay about 40-50 miles south of this fire. Last night I woke up at about 2 AM because of the smell of smoke in our room. We had the windows open and the smell was so thick I first thought a neighbor’s house might be on fire.
I would be amazed if he did. He is a coward who only attends safe events. Northern CA would give him a giant bird.
We were eating outdoors at a restaurant in Oakland last night, and every time a gust of warm wind came from the east, blowing napkins and leaves, everyone groaned. My Santa Rosa relatives texted us at 4:17 am that fire was on the ridge just to the east of theirs. They are now safe in Bodega Bay.
Stay safe.
One bright spot, Safari West exotic animal preserve appears safe for the moment. They had to evacuate but the wind changed in time. We stayed there a couple of weeks ago. So many wonderful animals and beautiful country. Watching and hoping for good news from the East Bay.
We live in the south side of Santa Rosa, and are under no direct threat (as yet!). The entire north side of town has been evacuated. We really feel for those folks. Smoke everywhere.
Thankfully, Trump hates California in general, and N. California, in particular. Other than a self-congratulatory twitter comment, I hope we don’t hear from him (much less a San Juan style visit).
Why is this not receiving the press that the hurricanes and earthquakes received?
And ‘fire season’ is over isn’t it?
California got record snowfall last winter and is no longer in drought conditions, for the time being, and yet these crazy fires are still happening.
Plus, the wine country is sort of humid and cool, that’s why the grapes grow so well.
Doesn’t exactly sound like the prime conditions for wildfire like this, other than the wind, which is likely the Santa Ana that has pushed many a fire.
While our temperatures aren’t generally as hot as further south, one of the reasons that red wines grow well here is that the area gets lots of sun, with a long dry season. I love our green and tan hills but with enough dense tree land, they can burn.
Compared to something like a hurricane, this is a pretty localized disaster – more like an Oklahoma tornado. When you consider that in a city of 150,000, probably 1/3, or more (just looking at the evac map), have been evacuated, that is pretty dire.
We are having a super-hot year - thanks, global warming. Better rainfall encouraged weedy plant growth - creating dry tinder. And there were extra high winds to fan the flames.
Santa Ana winds are a SoCal thing.
But yes, there were crazy high winds off the coast in NorCal yesterday. With our Mediterranean climate, all that post-drought growth is bone dry in October. That is when we always get our biggest fires. Meanwhile, the temperature was nothing like ‘cool’. More like a dozen degrees above average.
I was curious about where the Santa Anas ended.
I grew up with them in San Berdoo and lost property in one of the biggest Santa Ana fueled fires ever in my 32 years.
I can’t get your link to open. I was hoping to get more educated.
I believe you but I just don’t remember fires ever being a problem in this area.
We sat on the front porch every summer and watched the flames dance up in the hills near Lake Arrowhead and all the way to Big Bear.
Thanks, that wouldn’t open from the link either but I’ve got it now.
I’ll read a lot of these stories and learn I’m sure.
BTW, my family and ‘ex-family’ are all at the other end of the state and they were devastated by fires about 8 or 10 years ago when my son was in Carlsbad High and like I said, fires were totally normal in the San Gabriel Mountains where I spent a lot of time.
Alas there are no redwoods in this part of Sonoma and none in Napa counties. Still, your point that fire is a historical feature of California ecosystems is certainly correct. But fires like this are absolutely terrifying. I will never forget driving to San Francisco from the peninsula on the afternoon of Oct 19, 1991, and slowly becoming aware of a massive cloud of black
smoke coming from the Berkeley/Oakland hills that eventually arched over the entire bay area. It was from a firestorm that destroyed some 3000+ homes and killed 25 people.