Disturbing Fires

While trying to figure out what to write about two things occurred:

1) My cousin Katie Noonan asked me on Facebook if I could see any fires.

2) Simultaneously, I heard the siren of a fire truck pass by my house.

Leave it to the powers that be to determine what will be written in this world, and what will not be. So it is my honor to present to you, my feelings about my first fire since living in Burbank.

Back in Mississippi, the roster of natural disasters consists of hurricanes, tornadoes, and occasionally some flooding. Although I was too young to remember my first experience with one of these, I was living in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit. Front row seats to one of the worst hurricanes in recorded U.S. history. Well, I did have front rows seats, but quickly moved up to the mezzanine once I caught wind of its coming.

That is a chief difference between the disasters here in Cali and the disasters in the South. Forecasts can somewhat accurately predict what paths hurricanes and tornadoes will take. However, earthquakes and fires happen suddenly and without warning. Another interesting aspect about fires is that the L.A. area is so vast that most of the residents here find fires more disturbing than dangerous. I say this using the definition of disturbing as ‘viewing harm that will not be inflicted on you’ and dangerous as ‘viewing harm that will be inflicted on you’.

Wow, a fire in Orange County? Too bad for them!

or…

Wow, a fire in L.A. County? Too bad for them!

or the ever popular…

Who cares if the Red Sox beat the Angels? They’re in Anaheim!

You get the picture. Only if Disneyland was burned to the ground would people in L.A. County notice what’s happening in Orange County. Only if the studios were scorched and the film industry put to a halt would people in Orange County want to read about it. As for me, it took my cousin in Idaho for me to catch wind of a fire just over the hill from where I live.

So what moral do I extract from this post of disasters, disturbances, and town segregation? I need to watch the local news more often; I may end up getting scorched! Either that or write a screenplay about it.

Escape from L.A. 4: Burbank’s Burning

On second thought, I better keep ignoring the news.