Categorical Aperitif

Bad fires down here since Sunday: fires to the south, fires to the north. The south fires have been particularly scary and destructive; at one point yesterday, a wall of flame marched suddenly toward a school, which had to be evacuated on the run:

Authorities believe that all the fires were deliberately set. Ironically, I have yet to hear anyone use the word terrorism; all the speculation seems to be about pissed-off loners horny for fire, "copycat arsonists," and whatnot. I'm not saying it was terrorists, lord knows—I'm just a little surprised that we could be two days into a multiple-fire arson spree and not be having authority figures muttering darkly about "homeland security" implications. Perhaps my country is saner than I thought.

At any rate, send out your best wishes for the folks who've been injured, lost homes, etc. And your best hopes that police catch whoever did this.

// posted by nash @ 4:05 PM