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Letter

California Wildfires

Mary-John Hart, left, picked up groceries at Rainbow Bridge, an organic store in Ojai, Calif., that remained open despite the heavy smoke and threat of the Thomas Fire.Credit...Hilary Swift for The New York Times

To the Editor:

Re “In Southern California, a Shangri-La Ringed by Flames and Blanketed in Ash” (news article, Dec. 10): Although I was born and raised in New York City, I call California my home. In the many decades I have lived here, numerous natural disasters have struck the Golden State. Yet none have rivaled the firestorms that ravaged the state this year.

While I have not personally experienced any of the tragedies that afflicted others, I know people who have lost everything. What amazed and saddened me was the extent of the losses.

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, so far this year there have been 8,771 fires that consumed 1.3 million acres, or about 2,000 square miles.

With Delaware having an area of 1,982 square miles, imagine having that entire state disappearing, with nothing left standing but brick chimneys.

But the year is not yet over. With predictions of wild weather in the future, we are seeing the first effects of climate change. Let’s hope that this country will wake up.

JOEL FORMAN, CULVER CITY, CALIF.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 30 of the New York edition with the headline: California Wildfires. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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