The (Un)natural Disaster of California Fires

Earlier this month, with hundreds of people missing and over 85 killed by forest fires throughout California, the President of the United States used Twitter to threaten to withhold federal aid. His reasoning almost brushed reality. He was correct that the disasters burning throughout California are rooted in human factors. He is wrong if he thinks he is not complicit.

I thought about his statement as I climbed Montecito Peak the next morning. The journey was sobering. My drive to the trailhead was blocked, the road closed to repair damage from the January disaster which left 21 dead and two still missing. Taking a detour, I passed boulders stacked alongside vacant houses. Eventually I joined the hiking trail, rising into a charred landscape of still-blackened brush. At the peak, I was struck by two views. Below, construction crews rebuilt and repaired houses. South, a pillar of smoke rose near Los Angeles.

This is all new to me. Growing up in the Midwest, I frequently watched green clouds spin into funnels overhead, and a friend lost everything when his town was obliterated by a tornado. But California is different. The scale and frequency of destruction seems unprecedented.