Jezebel: Wildfires

The Great EscApes

Anna Holmes — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:10:00 EDT

[Sylmar, California; September 1. Image via Getty]

Young Women & Fire

Anna Holmes — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:10:00 EDT

[Tujunga, California; September 1. Image via Getty]

In The Line Of Fire

Anna Holmes — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:10:00 EDT

[Los Angeles, August 30. Image via Getty]

The Burning Down Under

Dodai Stewart — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:45:00 EST

News from the Australian fires: Winds are fanning the flames; survivors are outraged at arsonsists, more on Sam the koala; and (sigh) melted turtle shells and scorched kangaroo feet. [CNN, News.com.au, Herald Sun, AP] More »

Chain Gang

Maria — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:45:00 EDT

There's at least one positive thing coming out of the spate of massive wildfires in California and Arizona: female prison inmates are getting some much-needed boosts to their self-esteem. About 350 non-violent female prisoners are working for $1 an hour (and 2 days knocked off their sentence for every day worked) clearing fire containment lines in California. The program doesn't allow violent criminals, sex offenders or, obviously, arsonists, leaving mostly drug offenders and those convicted of fraud. The women appreciate the work because it gives them a taste of freedom and allows them to get their muscles moving; the supervisors appreciate it because female inmates are supposedly "easier to handle" and make nice, neat lines. [AP] More »

In The Line Of Fire

Anna Holmes — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:30:00 EDT

My best friend John's home burned to the ground yesterday afternoon. He and his wife and their two kids — one of them my goddaughter, a 3-year-old tomboy-in-training named Laura — left their home in San Diego on Monday. When I called them that morning, in fact, they were already in Carlsbad, 15 miles away. The evacuation seemed more proactive precaution than absolute necessity. John sounded upbeat; the children were fine, they'd taken all the "important" stuff — the photos, the computer, the odds 'n ends that would be impossible and agonizing to catalog here — and they were near the ocean, the kids' favorite place to be and one of the only places where the sky actually looked blue. More »