As long as I can change channels when people start to cry or shout, I've been fascinated by the coverage of the LA fires. The fire departments have bee battling them for days and still there's zero containment, what with the Santa Ana winds carrying embers to drought-dried shrubs.
So now I'm worried about more combustible areas. What if an ember ignites the La Brea tar pits? That's only 14 miles away from Pacific Pallisades. The tar pits were closed today because of the fire. (I don't know what tar pits even look like. I've always pictured, well, pits, of tar, just simmering out in the elements with a path neaby and a rope you can hold on to. Are they enclosed? Air conditioned?)
Later: After checking the web site, it looks like there are exhibits inside and outside, and that there is an exposed outdoor lake of asphalt in which some current day animals get stuck.
There's also an enormous oil field under LA. Almost every well is capped, but who knows if there’s a crack leading to some bottled-up gas ready to ignite?
Things are bad enough without any catastrophizing from me.
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