The Fires of Southern California

Fire in the heavens, and fire along the hills,
and fire made solid in the flinty stone,
thick-mass'd or scatter'd pebble, fire that fills
the breathless hour that lives in fire alone. ~ Fire in the Heavens, Christopher Brennan

Southern California is ablaze again this October. According to the LA Times, there are more than a dozen fires burning in SoCal, a half dozen are uncontrolled and spreading.

1. Sedgwick Fire: near Solvang (Santa Barbara County), has been burning all day. 250 firefighters and over 700 acres burned.
2. Ranch Fire: in Castaic (Los Angeles County), burning since last night. Over 12,000 acres burned and 320 firefighters involved.
3. Canyon Fire: in Malibu, burning since before dawn on Sunday. Five homes destroyed. 16 more damaged; five businesses and a church also burned down. Over 2,200 acres burned and 1,430 firefighters involved.
4. Buckweed Fire: near Santa Clarita. Started Saturday night. 17 structures destroyed; 3 civilians injured. 800 people evacuated. 400 firefighters and over 12,500 acres burned.
5. Witch Fire: near Santa Ysabel (San Diego County). "Several structures" damaged or destroyed. Started before noon on Sunday. Over 8,000 acres and 350 firefighters involved.
6. Harris Fire: near the Mexican border between Tecate and Campo, burning since this morning. 1 dead, 18 injured including 4 firefighters. 14,000 acres burned and 300 firefighters involved.
   

Over 50,000 acres have burned today and that number will probably double over night. You can blame the weather with dry Santa Ana winds (humidity below 10%), you can blame global warming, or you can fatalistically observe that autumn fires is the nature of Southern California. Blame what you will, this is a night when thousands of Californians have the flames of Hell lapping at their front doors.