I stopped watching the news for a few days and now it seems like the entire state of California is on fire. People are evacuating from everywhere, going who-knows-where. I hope you all are OK https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2019/10/30/brush-fire-erupts-in-simi-valley/
Horrible situation. Thoughts and prayers to everyone out there. I have family on both sides of the state, that are on the verge of evacuating. It’s unreal and horrendous to realize this may be the new dynamic of living there.
Well it is difficult to keep track of all the fires and sometimes I have this picture in my head that the entire state is burning. I don't know a lot about California geography and when I hear the name of a town I'm not always sure where it's located. I hope all our members and friends are OK. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-11-01/lost-track-of-all-the-california-fires-heres-what-you-need-to-know
Not really. I think that the news is exaggerating it. Everyone remembers the loss of the town of Paradise last year and the Wine Country fires before that. Here in Northern California, the Kincade fire in Sonoma County this year was potentially a big deal and led to massive evacuations. Arguably those were a bit overdone out of an abundance of caution. Nobody wanted to see a repeat of Paradise. The Kincade fire is pretty much under control now. The most disruptive aspect was the widespread electricity shut-offs leaving millions in the dark. That was less the result of the fires than a legal environment in which the electric company would be sued into oblivion if its lines sparked any fires. So better for them to shut off the lines and not be blamed. In the last few days, the focus seems to have moved from Northern to Southern California. Lots of relatively small wildfires down there, that are getting lots of attention because of nearby homes (including celebrities) and the proximity of the LA TV cameras. It's still much less widespread than it was in some previous years. Bottom line: While it's undeniably bad, particularly for those directly effected, it's also being hyped.
