I realize that making an issue of media coverage of fires into a class issue may be misplaced (and tacky), but I can’t help it. It’s not really that a fire surrounding our tiny rural neighborhood of old shacks is newsworthy in and of itself. We saw KCAL yesterday; we ran in the other direction to avoid questions like, “How do you feel seeing a giant brush fire approach your home?” So the media were here. Briefly.

But I’d really like not to hear about Malibu’s Canyon fire as if the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

 As of Google Maps:

Canyon Fire (Malibu) burned 2400 acres and destroyed 5 homes + 2 other structures. It’s a small fire that affects a rather elite group of people.

The Ranch Fire (Santa Clarita) burned 29,000 acres and the Buckweed Fire (also Santa Clarita) burned 35,000 acres and 25 structures (including homes). There are 15,000 people evacuated in Santa Clarita (population roughly 150,000) alone. (Not to mention a quarter of a million people evacuated from San Diego. I’d be quite willing to hear more about this). These are huge fires that affect middle class people. It is a state of emergency here in Santa Clarita. It’s actually a state of emergency in much of Southern California.

And all the media coverage that I’ve seen today is heavily weighted in favor of the Malibu fire as if what happens to rich people is simply more important than everyone else.