Malibu On Fire Again

[Ron61]

Wes,

Strange as it seems there are always a few places that somehow manage to survive. I have seen places with houses on both side burned to the ground and part of their rubble had fallen over into the surviving houses yard, and it wouldn't even have a cracked window from the heat. Same with the big crown fires we have up here. You walk out through the devastation and every so ofter there will be a circle of trees about 50 yards in diameter that are not even touched. One of the fire captains told me that was because the fire generated so much heat and wind that at that particular point it was like a small tornado and had sucked all of the oxygen out of that small area and therefore those tress remained safe. Not sure if that is correct, but after going through so many of these fires it seems to be one of the more plausible explanations. I remember several years ago when we had big fires closing in on town here on three sides and actually one got to within about 6 blocks of my house and you could just feel the air being pulled out of the area. And with the continuing drought, I am afraid we could be in for another disaster soon if something sets off all of this old dead undergrowth.

Ron