Tragedy has struck California, and wildfires have broken out all across southern California, leaving a path of death and destruction in its wake.
While wildfires aren’t unheard of in California, the intensity of these fires and the effects they are having on the celebrities Warriors all know and love has increased the number of eyes on this ongoing tragedy in our school, though not on everyday people.
Despite wildfires being an annual concern in California, this year some of the biggest and most destructive fires have overtaken the southern part of the state. The initial fire, named the Palisades Fire, began on Jan. 7 and has now grown and spread into the Eaton Fire and the Hurst Fire, along with many smaller unnamed fires across California.
The reason that these fires spread so quickly and so far is because of the strong winds that have blew through California off and on for weeks. The embers from the Palisades were picked up by the wind and were spread throughout California, landing in dry areas and igniting even more fires.
Celebrities like Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Miles Teller, Brad Paisley and many more have lost their homes. All of these stories have been told through the use of social media, which is why there is such following to these ongoing stories.
However, this has put the spotlight almost solely on the celebrities who have been affected by the fires and not the ordinary people whose lives have been drastically altered due to the fires.
As the weeks have went on, the death toll increased to 29 people.. The wildfires have also reportedly brought out the worst of people. On multiple occasions the police have had to arrest individuals who have tried to start even more fires.
Winds changed almost day by day which caused the fires to die down or sometimes suddenly emerge even stronger at a rapid pace. On Jan. 22, another fire named the Hughes Fire, ignited in the northwestern part of LA County.
Twenty four days after the inital fire ignited all of the fires are completely contained as of Feb.3. The Palisades and the Eaton, the two largest and most destructive fires took the longest to contain in their entirety.
As this tragedy comes to a close, much needed rainfall has come upon southern California. Unfortunately this heavy rainfall has the potential to cause mudslides and create toxic ash which will only add to the destruction southern California has to deal with. So while the over looming threat of the wildfires has ended, even more tragedy could be in its wake.