Roads that are usually choked with traffic were choked with smoke instead. Spacious homes erupted in flames. Picturesque mountainsides turned black. Helicopter crews far above the inferno felt the heat. The wildfires that swept through southern California this week gripped more than 700 square miles (1,700 square km) in their incendiary embrace.

　　The fires began on October 21st, a Sunday. The Santa Ana winds, which whip dry air from the desert plateau westwards and downwards into southern California. Before long, fires were blazing uncontrollably in seven counties. Perhaps as many as a million people have been forced to flee their homes. At least one person died in the flames, and five more died during the mass evacuation. Dozens of firefighters have been hurt.

　　America is a place of extreme weather. But why were the fires so destructive Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, blamed global warming. Joel Kotkin, a demographer, points out that California has always had fires during dry years, at least since the time of the Spaniards. Recent ones have caused more damage than those 30 years ago, because the population has grown and many more Californians have moved out of city centres and built big homes surrounded by foliage.



双语新闻：美国南加州十月的野火
　　通常因交通繁忙而堵塞的道路却被烟雾所堵塞。宽敞的家中喷出了火焰。风景如画的山坡变成了黑色。直升机机组在距离炼狱更高的上空仍感觉到了热浪。本周横扫南加州的野火的过火范围超过700平方英里(1，700平方公里)。

　　火灾始于10月21日星期天。名为圣安娜的大风驱使着来自沙漠高原的干热空气向西然后向南进入南加州。不久，火势在7个县变得不可控制。大约有100万人[屏蔽]逃离家乡。至少1人在火灾中死亡，5人在大规模疏散中死亡。几十名消防队员受伤。

　　美国是个有极端天气的国家。但是为什么火灾有如此的破坏力？参议院多数档领袖哈里·李德把火灾归咎于全球变暖。人口统计学家约尔·柯特金指出，加州在干旱年份总是有火灾，这至少始于西班牙人统治时期。最近几次火灾造成的损失超过30[屏蔽]的，因为人口增长和更多的加州人离开城市中心在树叶环绕的地方建造大房子。

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