Home Fires Burn

posted by Jaitu at 18:23

As British Summertime came to an end, the temperature became a little colder than it already was and we struggled to decide whether a British Summer really even begins anymore a colleague in San Diego sent this email.

Fires are still burning in some areas, but the worst seems to be over. Usual organizational fiasco and consequential dick measuring contest, but I suppose without knowing all the facts its difficult to comment. All I know is the political posturing started on day one with one senator promising to send "his" birds (C130 fire tankers) to San Diego to put out the flames, but of course these planes never arrived. Not much fun if you see your house going up in flame on the TV.
The fires actually passed by us both North and South by about 5-10 miles, although with wind gusts of 60 mph+ that was little comfort. We weren't evacuated, but 500,000 were as the authorities didn't want this to turn in to another Katrina. A few stayed and perished, but what can you do? The company closed for a few days but opened again on Wednesday, although at this time many were still evacuated. However, by Thursday things were getting back to normal and the decision had been made to turf out evacuees from Qualcom Stadium because there was football game scheduled for Sunday. After all you can't let a disaster get in the way of a few bucks can you?
There hasn't been much said about how the fires started, although one was attributed to a broken power line. That being said one nut was driving around in his truck, complete with fire fighter number plates and helping himself to fire hoses, so who knows. With a population of 3 million + you've got to wonder how many closet pyros are out there.
Interesting comment about the Greeks [mainland fires in the summer] and a boost to the real estate market was one of the things mentioned on yesterdays news as a "positive", but then that assumes you had your home insured which many didn't. I'm amazed that anyone who lives here and in a house worth >$500,000 doesn't have insurance, but it appears that the value of your house bears no relationship to your stupidity.