An above average season in terms of fires is predicted this year. It is due to global warming. It is an effect that feeds on itself. The less trees, the more pronounced the effect becomes.
They said on the news that a lot of the fatalities from the CO fire came from people who would not abandon their homes. Maybe insurance is a good idea as well as having your valuables packed in portable boxes for a quick getaway.
...under the Interstate highway bridge near the railroad tracks in the area where I live. We have the best employment scene in this locality in three N. New England states (unemployment at4%) so I wondered why this could possibly be there, and growing. I went to the local homeless shelter and asked what was up. They said that the people of that camp were former residents of the shelter that had used up the maximum number of nights allowed per year. They weren't crazy, lazy or drug addicted. They just didn't have good enough credit to even get into section 8 housing where only half the units are occupied.
There is a movement among small local banks in this country to to give away $100 to 100 people in the area where they do business. I applaud that and am calling a small local bank with a shiny 5 story headquarters about a mile from this encampment today to ask if they are willing to give away $100 to each resident there. Maybe it won't make a difference in getting these people indoors before the first really hard frosts hit but I know having money in the pocket means a great deal in terms of comfort and hope.
All I know is "There but for the grace of God go I".
The most destructive fire in CO history is burning down Fourmile and Lefthand canyons. At least 135 homes are burned to the ground and the fire is only 10% contained assuming these nasty winds do not come back. Not to mention the other 3000 some evacuees. The smoke is so thick in the air that it is wreaking havoc on eyes throats and lungs. I don't think there have been any fatalities but I know of a couple of friends who have evacuated and have not heard from others.
"The dire wolf collects his due while the boys sing round the fire"
is sitting on my shoulder doing something strange to my ear and laughing at my inability to access the chatroom...............sigh!..............this is a little known species, related to the Flying Monkeys...who are, of course, famous for their finesse at stealing beer and flying it to Iowa, and sometimes Spain.
Mike Edwards from ELO was killed when a 600 kilo bale of hay fell from a tractor onto his van!
RIP and what a freak accident!
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By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean.
Mark Twain
I think that the mechanism is still the same. Just thought I throw out what a bona fide Voice of Evil had to say on the subject of war...the more things change, the more they don't.