Fire, Fire!

About twenty years ago an online group I belonged to got into a discussion about which natural disaster is the worst. To my surprise, everyone said the kind that happened where they lived was not the worst, but the best.

People who lived where there are hurricanes said they know in advance when they're coming and can shelter from them.

People who live where there are tornadoes said they usually only hit a narrow area.

People who live where there are earthquakes said the major ones only happen every few decades.

Other disasters were mentioned, but the comments about them were similar.

I live in California where we're having a severe drought and several forest fires are happening right now.  We can't predict those, we can't shelter from them, they cover large areas, and they happen often.

In my opinion forest fires would be considered the worst natural disasters, but they aren't all natural. Some do start from lightening strikes. But a lot are started by people doing stupid and careless things like burning in dangerous areas or not being sure campfires are completely extinguished.

And some fires are even started by people on purpose. Are the idiots who do that trying to make themselves feel important? How pathetic they must be!

Or is starting fires sometimes a form of warfare?

Since our state is experiencing a major drought (yes, that's another natural thing that could become a disaster) using the huge amounts of water required to fight fires is another problem.

I hope all Californians who read this are doing their part and using common sense to help prevent forest fires.

Here's a link to a story I wrote about forest fires several years ago:
 http://www.guardian-angel-kids.com/apr012-pg6-articlekids.htm