The Camp fire in Butte County is unbelievable. Dozens of people dead. Hundreds missing. Thousands of structures destroyed. Tens of thousands of acres burned. And still maybe 10 days from full containment. After years of stories about severe wildfire risks in California, how could this have happened?
According to a Bay Area News Group report, there is plenty of blame to go around. An evacuation of the hardest-hit town _ Paradise _ was sure to be difficult because its 27,000 residents had only three main exits. But matters were made far worse by the city, which activated its CodeRed phone notification system only to see few people get calls; by Butte County, which apparently never turned on its Red Alert emergency warning system; by Cal Fire's delayed, vague warning; and by the failure of all agencies with public safety responsibilities to issue emergency warnings on radio and TV stations.
This must not be repeated. Reliable _ and regularly tested _ warning systems must be the norm.
