It is with difficulty that I feel sorry for the folks who have to put up with the smoke. You'd think I'd be more sympathetic, especially since the same failed forestry practices which contributed to this fire have ensured that we, here in North Dakota, get to breathe the atmospheric effluent of the burning Pacific Northwest annually for weeks at a time. Having spent yet another summer of dull red suns (an optical effect of smoke every bit as thick as that in the photo, just from much farther away) and vivibility issues akin to thick fog, I am ever reminded that those who tend to vote for those same policies which have cost our western neighbors jobs, timber, homes, and businesses are now complaining about effects we have been subjected to (with seemingly increasing severity) for decades.
My heart goes out to those who have lost homes, loved ones, pets, or their lives in this fire and others like it. No insurance check can compensate for the depth of such losses.
To those whose policies helped make the messes like this, not just in California, but in National Forests and Parks everywhere, have a dose of what you've been serving us for decades. Maybe, just maybe you'll rethink the feelgood policies which helped lead to this, and support something more sane.
Or maybe a snowball has a better chance in a firestorm.
