Re: Inevitability of a fire . . . and subsequent flood

Russo Loco Wrote:
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> p.s.  For a fuller understanding of the
> 'fires causing floods' phenomenon, I once again
> suggest reading 'Los Angeles Against the
> Mountains', the third section of John McPhee's
> non-fiction treatise The Control of Nature
> (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1989).  The
> railfans among us may remember his diary of
> travels on a unit coal train from Wyoming to
> Georgia in John's 'Coal Train' that appeared as a
> two-part article in the New Yorker magazine
> a few years ago, and was republished as the
> next-to-last chapter of his collection Uncommon
> Carriers (also FS&G, but 2006).  If
> you're into Geology, western history and/or plate
> tectonics, I guarantee you will enjoy Annals of
> the Former World (FS&G, 1998).*

The Control of Nature is my favorite book by my favorite author. I was growing up in Tujunga when the 1980 (?) mud slides hit. A friend of mine ended up with unearthed caskets in her front yard from that event.

> Disclaimer:  John McPhee is my second cousin
> on my mother's side of the family.  I'm not
> recommending his books because they're damn good
> reading, but because he's a relative and SFAIK the
> NGDF does not have an "emoluments clause" . .
> .    

It doesn't hurt that thir darn good reading as well. Coming into the Country and Conversations with the Arch Druid are also excellent.

Another big factor in the wildfires has to be climate change. Colorado has had the 5 warmest years on record in a row. I can't even imagine what happens if we don't get CO2 emissions under control.

Greg Coit
Bayfield, CO