SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Firefighters monitor a section of the Thomas Fire along the 101 freeway on December 7, 2017 north of Ventura, California. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)
'It's a Monster': California's Thomas Fire Now Largest in State History
The blaze has now torn through more than 273,400 acres of land and destroyed over a thousand structures
Dec 23, 2017
California's Thomas Fire has been raging for just over two weeks in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, and it has already torn through hundreds of homes, more than a thousand structures, and over 273,400 acres of land. Now, as the Los Angeles Times reported late Friday, the fire has also burnt "its way into the history books," becoming the largest blaze ever recorded in the state's history.
"What should make Southern California fearful is that climate change could mean a future of more frequent and more intense wildfires."
--Los Angeles Times Editorial Board
"The fire eclipsed the 2003 Cedar fire in San Diego County, which burned 273,246 acres," the Times notes.
"The Thomas Fire has burned an area larger than New York City, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco combined--and larger than any city in California except Los Angeles," adds CNN's Nicole Chavez.
As of Friday night, the fire was just 65 percent contained, and firefighters are expected to be working around the clock until mid-January. President Donald Trump has yet to issue a major disaster declaration for Southern California.
"It's a monster," Santa Barbara County Fire Division Chief Martin Johnson told ABC News. "We all recognize that. But, we will kill it."
Fueled by powerful winds and extraordinarily dry conditions, the Thomas Fire is just one of many blazes that have ravaged California in recent weeks, forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate and killing dozens.
Friday's "milestone reaffirmed 2017 as the most destructive fire season ever in the state," the Times observes, highlighting a series of fires in the state's wine country that destroyed more than 10,000 homes in October. Meteorologist Eric Holthaus has described the conditions surrounding California's fires as "once-in-a-generation."
Making the Thomas fire's strength even more striking, environmentalist and author Bill McKibben noted, is the fact that it broke out "in December, months after the traditional end of fire season."
Earlier this month, just days after the Thomas fire kicked off, the Los Angeles Times editorial board starkly warned that the unprecedented 2017 fire season could quickly become the new normal if action isn't taken to address and mitigate the human-caused climate crisis.
"What should make Southern California fearful is that climate change could mean a future of more frequent and more intense wildfires," the Times concluded. "Today's fires will end, and what we do afterward--assessing how to better prepare, and how and whether to rebuild--will influence the damage from the fires next time."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
California's Thomas Fire has been raging for just over two weeks in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, and it has already torn through hundreds of homes, more than a thousand structures, and over 273,400 acres of land. Now, as the Los Angeles Times reported late Friday, the fire has also burnt "its way into the history books," becoming the largest blaze ever recorded in the state's history.
"What should make Southern California fearful is that climate change could mean a future of more frequent and more intense wildfires."
--Los Angeles Times Editorial Board
"The fire eclipsed the 2003 Cedar fire in San Diego County, which burned 273,246 acres," the Times notes.
"The Thomas Fire has burned an area larger than New York City, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco combined--and larger than any city in California except Los Angeles," adds CNN's Nicole Chavez.
As of Friday night, the fire was just 65 percent contained, and firefighters are expected to be working around the clock until mid-January. President Donald Trump has yet to issue a major disaster declaration for Southern California.
"It's a monster," Santa Barbara County Fire Division Chief Martin Johnson told ABC News. "We all recognize that. But, we will kill it."
Fueled by powerful winds and extraordinarily dry conditions, the Thomas Fire is just one of many blazes that have ravaged California in recent weeks, forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate and killing dozens.
Friday's "milestone reaffirmed 2017 as the most destructive fire season ever in the state," the Times observes, highlighting a series of fires in the state's wine country that destroyed more than 10,000 homes in October. Meteorologist Eric Holthaus has described the conditions surrounding California's fires as "once-in-a-generation."
Making the Thomas fire's strength even more striking, environmentalist and author Bill McKibben noted, is the fact that it broke out "in December, months after the traditional end of fire season."
Earlier this month, just days after the Thomas fire kicked off, the Los Angeles Times editorial board starkly warned that the unprecedented 2017 fire season could quickly become the new normal if action isn't taken to address and mitigate the human-caused climate crisis.
"What should make Southern California fearful is that climate change could mean a future of more frequent and more intense wildfires," the Times concluded. "Today's fires will end, and what we do afterward--assessing how to better prepare, and how and whether to rebuild--will influence the damage from the fires next time."
California's Thomas Fire has been raging for just over two weeks in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, and it has already torn through hundreds of homes, more than a thousand structures, and over 273,400 acres of land. Now, as the Los Angeles Times reported late Friday, the fire has also burnt "its way into the history books," becoming the largest blaze ever recorded in the state's history.
"What should make Southern California fearful is that climate change could mean a future of more frequent and more intense wildfires."
--Los Angeles Times Editorial Board
"The fire eclipsed the 2003 Cedar fire in San Diego County, which burned 273,246 acres," the Times notes.
"The Thomas Fire has burned an area larger than New York City, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco combined--and larger than any city in California except Los Angeles," adds CNN's Nicole Chavez.
As of Friday night, the fire was just 65 percent contained, and firefighters are expected to be working around the clock until mid-January. President Donald Trump has yet to issue a major disaster declaration for Southern California.
"It's a monster," Santa Barbara County Fire Division Chief Martin Johnson told ABC News. "We all recognize that. But, we will kill it."
Fueled by powerful winds and extraordinarily dry conditions, the Thomas Fire is just one of many blazes that have ravaged California in recent weeks, forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate and killing dozens.
Friday's "milestone reaffirmed 2017 as the most destructive fire season ever in the state," the Times observes, highlighting a series of fires in the state's wine country that destroyed more than 10,000 homes in October. Meteorologist Eric Holthaus has described the conditions surrounding California's fires as "once-in-a-generation."
Making the Thomas fire's strength even more striking, environmentalist and author Bill McKibben noted, is the fact that it broke out "in December, months after the traditional end of fire season."
Earlier this month, just days after the Thomas fire kicked off, the Los Angeles Times editorial board starkly warned that the unprecedented 2017 fire season could quickly become the new normal if action isn't taken to address and mitigate the human-caused climate crisis.
"What should make Southern California fearful is that climate change could mean a future of more frequent and more intense wildfires," the Times concluded. "Today's fires will end, and what we do afterward--assessing how to better prepare, and how and whether to rebuild--will influence the damage from the fires next time."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.