Smoke Gets In Your News

If the end were here, would we know it?

A TV crew from Sacramento's largest news station, KCRA 3 - NBC and CNN affiliate - interviewed a dapperly dressed, young gentleman wearing a navy blue, pin-striped suit and a smart, moosed-in-place coif, in front of a swanky looking, outdoor eatery - the kind with the Euro-feel, camel-colored, canvas umbrellas. You know.
The kind you might eat at in the open air if it weren't for the climatically out of place wicker chairs. I know, theme is everything.

The outdoor area was empty.
The reporter asked if the smoky conditions were causing a marked decrease in patronage. He said, yes, a little, in a round about way.

After the interview and the news crew left, the lunch crowd showed up and there wasn't an empty seat. So, the story told for the noon news didn't really reflect the situation. It did for the time they were there, but the reporter didn't take into account it was the wrong time of day ion downtown Sac.

This smoke dimming light is different for locals and worthy of media attention, as it dominated the news in San Diego in 2003 when they experienced "historic" wild fires.
Difference is distance. These fires aren't as close to Sacramento as they were to downtown San Diego.
I remember the skies over Coronado being much, much darker. Troublingly so.
I remember it hurting to breathe.
I remember getting to my car and seeing it covered with greyish-white ash drifting through the air in the pace and frequency of a light, but persistent snow.
It felt like the last days of Pompeii. It was a life threatening Earth event.
I volunteered to pass out surgical masks at a make shift Red Cross aid center for residents and other San Diegans displaced by the fire.

I won't say this isn't bad here in Sacrament.
This is bad.
Never so many unchecked wild fires.
20,000 fire fighters in the field and it's not nearly enough.
Bad visibility and particulate grounds air tankers.
This is bad.