California in Flames

If we’re blogging with any added urgency this week, it could be because Truthdig’s home base is surrounded by fires, one of which city officials called the worst in nearly 50 years. Firefighters caught a break in the weather Monday, but they’re not taking anything for granted. As a spokesperson for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection put it, “We’ve got several days of hard, hard work.”

Multiple blazes have scorched tens of thousands of acres from Santa Barbara to Orange County.

For the past few days, the sky over Los Angeles has had an orange glow and the air has been hot and thick with smoke. We can’t wait to hear what the televangelists have to say about all this.

Perhaps they’ll see it as God’s retribution for not banning gay marriage sooner.

Los Angeles Times:

A lull in the fierce, desert-born Santa Ana winds that pushed three devastating wildfires through Southern California delivered the first major break in days to fire crews from Anaheim Hills to Santa Barbara on Sunday, although authorities warned that shifting winds could splinter off erratic blazes and threaten homes for at least another day.

The gravest threat late Sunday was along the border of Orange, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties, as the fire charged toward the canyons and hillsides of Diamond Bar, Chino Hills and Brea.

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