It wasn’t all that long ago that I was in Southern California living in the realtively safe eye of the fires that ravaged San Diego, so I can imagine the angst that is gripping Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside counties this morning as fires rip through the region, again, causing extensive damage.  The Los Angeles Times has video and a full report.

Though it looks as though progress is being made as of this morning, the damage already done, of course, is tragic.  There are, as per usual, multiple fires raging.

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Los Angeles County Fire officials have announced that the enormous Sesnon fire began when strong winds knocked down electrical lines, igniting dry brush in a drainage ditch, and led to one of the most destructive fires of this season.   Fueled by Santa Ana winds, the latest Southern California wildfires have so far claimed two lives, burned more than 18,000 acres and forced the evacuation of 1,200 people from the area.   While winds and dry conditions typically contribute to ferocious fires around this time of year, officials are concerned that climate change could be causing longer fire seasons. In a disturbing statement Bob Roper, chief of the Ventura County Fire Department, warned: “We are not out of fire season. Fire season is year-round now.”

takepart by volunteering or donating through California Volunteers to help victims of the fires.

Related: Inconvenient Truth of the Day

Photo: Dan Steinberg/Associated Press

It’s June 27th, I’m Gina Telaroli and this is TakePart.com’s look at the week in social action

SACRAMENTO, Ca. — Firefighters are making headway today against hundreds of blazes that have charred about 100,000 acres across Northern California in recent days, but are fearful of more lightning storms later this week.

Big fires continued to burn in rugged reaches of Mendocino, Butte and Monterey counties, and more than 2,000 homes remained threatened by approaching flame.

Fire crews from Nevada and Oregon are helping California firefighters battle hundreds of blazes that are darkening the sky over the San Francisco Bay area and Central Valley, leading public health officials to issue air-quality warnings.

The lightning-caused fires have charred tens of thousands of acres and forced hundreds of residents to flee their homes, though few buildings have been destroyed, said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

According to the AP, More than 800 wildfires were set by a storm that unleashed nearly 8,000 lightning strikes across Northern California over the weekend.

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On a sweltering summer day, 20 years ago, climatologist James E Hansen warned Washington and the world that humans were warming the planet. And on today, Dr. Hansen will give a briefing to the House committee on global warming to say that “that it is almost, but not quite, too late to start defusing what he calls the ‘global warming time bomb.’” He will offer a plan for cuts in emissions and also a warning about the risks of further inaction.

takepart and read more about Dr. Hansen’s proposals

Related: Turning up the Heat on Climate Issue

Inconvenient Truth Updates:

Crews gain ground on wildfires in California (The Associated Press)

Weather Slows Rescue After Typhoon Sinks Philippine Ferry(New York Times)

Photo: James E. Hansen, a NASA climate expert, used a pair of cardboard dice 20 years ago to explain that humans were tipping the odds of harmful climate change by adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. He displays one die in his Manhattan office. From New York Times.