Will - Really. Bummer. It's scary stuff. I grew up not too far from you ( in Vermont). I'm telling you, unless you've actually seen a Californian wildfire (can't speak for the rest of the West, having only seen big fires in Ca) you can't imagine. Watching the CDF fight them is incredible - the choreography of aircraft and ground crews, and just the scale of the fires.
I saw the Weimar fire up close and personal (close enough so the ground crews were within earshot of our house, shouting to one another through the woods), and I saw the Berkeley Hills fire (the one that burned ... what was it, 1500 houses? It was some ridiculous number.) from the other side of the Bay. It was amazing - it looked like half the Oakland side of the Bay was on fire. Just amazing...
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Berkeley Hills Fire Statistics
Deaths.......................................................................................25
Injuries....................................................................................150
Single Family Dwellings Destroyed..........................................2,843
Single Family Dwellings Damaged.................................................193
Apartment Units Destroyed..............................................................433
Total Living Units Damaged or Destroyed..............................3,469
Total Acreage Burned by the Fire..............................................1,520
Fire Perimeter................................................................5.25 Miles
Estimated Dollar Fire Loss......................................$1,537,000,000
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