Suddenly, COVID masks became handy for another reason: the smoke-tinged air, through which ashes spun like grisly snowfall. While no significant fires have broken out yet this season in the Santa Monicas, those like the Bobcat and El Dorado fires, as well as all the others peppering the state, are but one facet of a general reminder of the dangers of excessive dry heat, and of climate change overall.
Mary Ann Webster’s article in the Summer 2020 newsletter addressed the considerations one should undergo when hiking, or deciding to hike, in such weather. Unfortunately, the recent death of a hiker in Calabasas made her words all the timelier. Trails closed through 5 pm after this incident, and during the heatwave.
The Wildland Urban Wildfire Committee was formed by Sierra Club California in July 2020, in order to address the flammable pitfalls and risks associated with “urban-interface development” — the fancy, bureaucratic name for places such as Malibu: outer crusts of suburbia. Ideally, these efforts will help substantially with our response time, and capacity, to combat any future fires, a problem that today is far less an “if” than a “when”.
On the general nature of California’s ash-laden, red-tinted New Normal, here is a sobering editorial from the Washington Post.
