More than 10,000 firefighters are now battling 16 large wildfires that have burned more than 330 square miles (214,000 acres) of California neighborhoods, forests and businesses since Sunday, with 100,000 people evacuated from the fires so far.
Predawn winds in Santa Rosa helped the Nuns Fire jump firelines and push into two directions, forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes near Oakmont and northeast of the city of Sonoma.
These fires have been extremely destructive with 5,700 structures estimated to have been destroyed. While crews continue their search for missing people, the death toll has risen to 35. There are ovrr 200 missing people as well. (250-400 missing
Tubbs Fire, Sonoma and Napa Counties
Between Calistoga and Santa Rosa
35,270 acres, 44% contained
Significant number of structures destroyed
tlas Fire, Napa & Solano Counties
South of Lake Berryessa and northeast of Napa
50,383 acres, 45% contained
4 civilian fatalities
Significant structures destroyed
MENDOCINO-LAKE COMPLEX (2 fires)
CAL FIRE Incident Management Team assigned
Redwood Valley, Mendocino County
North of Hwy 20 in Potter Valley and Redwood Valley
34,000 acres, 20% contained
8 civilian fatalities
Significant structures destroyed

Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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Tragic…but what does it have to do with the singularity and other technological aspects of the future?
Perhaps it is time for California to take preventative measures, such as controlled burns, increased dam building, and restrictions on homes in certain very vulnerable areas.
Nahhh. That would be displaying too much competence in blue state governance.
No. Don’t regulate where people build. Instead put in regulations that government funds will not be used to help homeowners rebuild of they live in fire prone areas. Allow hine insurance rates to reflect risk and let the market sort it out. Do the same for flood prone areas.