I saw it, could not believe it!

I saw it, and could not believe it.

On CNN today, I was watching the heartbreaking videos of what has to described as hell on earth. The wildfires have burned hundreds of homes, and still are not fully under control.

A representative of the Fire Department broke into tears as he described firefighters valiant, and often useless efforts to stop the fires.

One video showed sparks jumping from roof to roof. And then I saw it, from wood shake roof to wood shake roof.

I could scarcely believe my eyes. Colorado Springs is a city around and engulfed by forests. The hills go up around the city, and fires running downhill have thousands of beautiful, expensive, mountain homes, in their path. The rich always build higher up the hill for the view, in the beautiful forest, with beautiful, practically explosive wood shakes on their roofs!

And Colorado has endured years of global warming caused drought (there I said it, so sue me). The snow pack, that feeds rivers, streams and lakes has declined. There isn't enough water, no rain to dampen the time bombs on every hill side.

And, the heat, continues unstopped. The winters are the warmest ever, hundred degree temperatures have gone on for days, with sixty (60) mile per hour winds.

And wood shakes cover the houses. In fact, a cursory check of the city's website state that replacement roofs must not be wood, but that apparently just went into effect.

However, several Colorado Springs roofing sites were found, touting the beauty and affordability of cedar shake roofs. So, more likely, outside the city limits, wood shake roofs are still alright. Or, the ordinance is not enforced. The house I saw explode in flames was pretty new.

Colorado is a conservative state, these are rugged individualists, damn those pesky regulations, I want my shake roof.

I actually watched the sparks fly onto a shake roof, and the roof caught on fire, and within seconds, the whole house was ablaze. It's like having a fireplace for a roof. Shake roofs explode into sparks, the winds catch the sparks, and torch the neighborhood. Often, a composition roof simply melts, or catches fire as the fire gets the hottest. Shake roofs are like kindling. In fact, we use cedar FOR kindling in the winter!

What is the matter with us? First, deniers have so assaulted climate scientists, that they are afraid to state publicly that we are now in global warming big time, and wildfires will be the standard; multiple days of 100 degree weather the new normal, water drought a standard, "extreme weather" (shit that can kill you) is no longer rare; etc.

And the cons rant that it is all a liberal plot. And some person in Colorado Springs must have successfully sold the idea that concrete or composition shingles, next to a damn forest, was too expensive, or unwieldy, and good cedar shakes were more attractive and cheaper. So people covered their homes with kindling!

Oh, they did say on one page, that fire retardant was on all cedar shakes (neglecting to say that it must be redone regularly). I have yet to see fire retardant stop cedar burning, unless you put it in an aquarium.

And Colorado continues to burn, the fire chief sobs, and wood shakes are still being put on roofs.

Sheer insanity!