Whilst the situation is terrible, I have to say I laughed when I heard "14,000 hectares burnt in juyst two days". Obviously now it's closer to 40,000, but it's not *that* big a fire.
Hugh,
You laughed? You may not realize this, but that was an icnredibly isnensitive thing to say. My parents house is in the path of this thing, and they fully should expect to wake up tommorrow finding that they have no place to live.
Fully 300,000 people have been evacuated, and I expect more to have to be evacuated before the more than a dozen wildfires across three counties burn out. Pepperdine University is almost certainly gone thanks to the Malibu fire. Lake Arrowhead is being decimated by another fire. There are two fires just getting started in Orange County thanks to arsonists. The Witch Fire in central San Diego is barreling towards the sea and after having burned 145,000 acres it is still 0% contained according to the firefighters. It is very near to the sea, and could literally wipe out whole sections of Encinitas and Del Mar if firefighters cannot pull out a miracle. In Otay Mesa, another fire is demolishing the border areas. CNN just reported that as the fires climb over hillsides, they are throwing embers the size of milk cartons distances of up to a mile by gusts of hurricane force winds, embers that are starting still more fires.
There is only one fire truck in San Diego County not comitted to fighting a fire. One more blaze breaks the back of those who are charged with stopping this disaster, they simply won't be able to handle it.
I don't think you meant to be so thoughtless, but I'm afraid you were.
