Destruction from California wildfires now tops 1,000 homes

a reply to: marg6043

They still have 6 fires right now, a lot less than what they had last week still a lot of acres been burned.

I've never personally experienced loss of a home. This made me so sad, as it seemed to express what is probably a common sentiment from those who have lost their home. From the fire at Middleton, CA:

She found a ceramic drip coffee pot and one of her pottery pieces.

Otherwise, her little "piece of heaven" flanked by trees as high as she could see, was gone. "I kept walking around asking, 'Where is my home?' I don't understand why it's not here. This isn't where I live,' " she said Monday.

The lightening-caused fire currently in Kings Canyon National Park (Rough Fire) was fought with all the modern equipment and training available (plus pack trains when smoke prevented air delivery of equipment!), but I got to thinking, what would it have been like, in this particular drought year, if it had occurred 100 years ago. Maybe like this....

Great Fire of 1910 in Idaho
Almost 3,000,000 acres!!

One interesting thing, the Pulaski fire axe is believed to have been invented as a result of that fire. Still in use today, and not just to fight fires.