California Conflagrations

Current SoCal fire map (Cal Fire)

Californians love trees for esthetic and environmental reasons, but the recent spate of catastrophic fires should make everyone cautious about their homes being surrounded by trees and other flora.

Fires continue to burn out of control north (Ventura County) and south (San Diego County) of Los Angeles. [bold added]

firefighters in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles, gained 10 percent containment of the largest and most destructive fire in the state, which has destroyed 430 buildings. The so-called Thomas Fire has grown to 206 square miles (533 sq. kilometers) since it broke out Monday. Fire crews also made enough progress against other large fires around Los Angeles to lift most evacuation orders.

The fire 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of San Diego, driven by winds above 35 mph (56 kph), razed rows of trailer homes in the retirement community, leaving charred and mangled metal in its wake.

Meanwhile, in contrast to October's Northern California fires for which PG&E was quickly blamed, the media has been uncharacteristically silent about possible causes for fires in the Southland.

Dinocrat speculates that officials are behaving as if they are trying to trap arsonists. If so, I hope they get the max sentence.