Burning down the house
Somehow a bit of snow seems like a blessing, when I see the news footage from southern California. Wildfires are exactly that. In fact, there are times when the material resembles some webcam stuff from the edge of a live volcano in Hawaii. Five hundred thousand people on the move to someplace that is less like Dante’s sixth circle. Not exactly what their tourist bureau wants as an image for the rest of the continent.
I have a “former co-worker” who left here last spring to relocate in an upscale home near San Bernadino. We’d discussed exactly this problem, but it was seen as something that the authorities understood and could control. Now, as a fire chief mentions that only the ocean would keep the fires from spreading to Hawaii (see my earlier reference), I wonder if there are any second thoughts.
My understanding of the situation is skewed by the news coverage of CNN. After all, when the goal is to have something to say all the time, there is a certain level of hyperbole. Besides, my feed via the local cable company doesn’t reflect colours accurately, or so I’ve been told. Something to do with unconverted digital feed on an analog channel. I’ll let you judge:
Reminds me of the first colour TV that arrived at a wealthier neighbour’s house back in the mid 1960’s. But I digress. The real question from any cynic is whether or not the response from the federal authorities will be comparable to a state of emergency in New Orleans just over two years ago. The claim is that they learned some lessons. My response is that fire and water are not the same. We’ll see. I may even find some coverage that isn’t quite so spectrally “enhanced”. Meanwhile, the background music for today is presented by Talking Heads. How about Burning Down The House as our hit single.
