California Wildfire Forces Evacuations

This article from the New York Times website shows how governing personnel in California communicate an important risk that people living there face today. Some of the areas that have very recently experienced destructive forest fires have not been affected by this kind of natural disaster for over 40 years, but people in these areas are obviously now beginning to worry too. Nobody has been killed or even injured by the most recent documented wildfires, but even if they had stayed at home, the disaster most likely would not have troubled them physically. As mentioned at the end of the article, no property damage has been reported, but Californians still fear this possibility. Wildfires do present a risk to public health and should no doubt be avoided, so the evacuations that have been forced in some areas do make sense. We know from past stories of wildfires that have proved fatal to Californians and people all over the world that all wildfires present a serious risk. I think that the governing bodies of California did a smart thing by encouraging evacuations (it's better to be safe than sorry) because it is hard to tell from the initial onset of a forest fire exactly how great the risk will be to the public. The risk of wildfire destruction is a problem controlled by "Mother Nature" that Californians need to fear but accept as a condition of living in the area. I am glad that a popular newspaper like the New York Times has made this risk of living in California well-known through this article. It is important for people to realize that if they want to live in California, they should take into account the probable risk of needing to evacuate from their homes because of some wildfire.