With California parched by a record drought and triple-digit (Fahrenheit) temperatures, media have reported two major wildfires in the last week. In the northern logging town of Weed, 1,500 residents were evacuated before a fire destroyed 100 buildings, including the local sawmill and a church. In the Cleveland National Forest southeast of Los Angeles, the Silverado Fire burned 1,600 acres (647 hectares) in two days, with 200 homes evacuated in and around Silverado Canyon. “California is in its third year of a devastating drought that has forced farmers to leave fields unplanted and left communities reliant on well water with little to drink,” Whitcomb writes. “Some communities have banned residents from filling their swimming pools, and in Southern California, residents have removed 2.5 million square feet of turf from their front and back yards, replacing water-thirsty grass with drought tolerant plants and other landscaping.”
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