How many times has it been said or referenced that humans are the real monsters? Its been a theme in literature, film, video games, and real life for millennia. Take climate change for example, and what it’s doing to the Earth; indeed we are the real monsters causing that. In a recent turn of events to rival Florida man, some of the recent California wildfires have been caused by the actions of humans. More than that, you would not believe the ridiculousness that caused them.
The Flora Fire in the North Bay region of California. Authorities recently discovered the cause of the fire was linked to a man driving down Chalk Hill Road. How does driving down a road start a fire? Well, it can when you’re driving for four straight miles with only three tires and a rim. And those three tires may or may not have been completely flat. The metal rim was grinding along the asphalt, casting off sparks and igniting the dry grass along the sides of the road. Clearly the driver knew he didn’t have a tire, one does not simply drive four miles without realizing a tire is missing. Maybe they had no other option, maybe they didn’t have AAA? Regardless, it torched at least 36 acres of land.
That’s nothing compared to the sprawling 239,000 acre fire in Butte County. That too started with the involvement of a vehicle. The difference this time is that the vehicle itself was on fire and being pushed into a ravine by a man. He’s being charged with arson. It’s one thing to flee a burning vehicle, it’s another to just push it down into a gully filled with dry vegetation.
Earlier this month there was a 908 acre fire near Yosemite that was also directly caused by human negligence. And once again a vehicle was involved though this time it was a riding lawnmower being used to cut grass. “But isn’t that what a lawnmower is for?” You may ask. Well yes, but not when the grass is 4 feet tall and it’s in the middle of a heatwave. The combination of all those things can once again cause sparks that can ignite brush and result in the scenarios described above.
The moral of the story is- please don’t be the cause of a fire.
