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Essay on Malibu Fires

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Malibu Fires

Human beings are able to adapt to almost any environment, unfortunately sometimes we take advantage of our natural surroundings. We find ourselves amidst a struggle between our lifestyles and nature. Although we affect nature profoundly with our activities, we in turn are shaped by nature's potent forces.
Nature can be brutal to humans, but we must remember that it merely is following its course. As a result, we must learn to coexist with it. Fire is a naturally occurring phenomenon which humans have learned to deal with throughout history.
Yet when fire burns uncontrollably, there is great potential for monumental damage to all surrounding biomass. The Malibu wildfires are an example of one …show more content…

It was the most devastating fire in the area, surpassing the previous worst fire in 1980 that burned 55 homes at the mouth of the San Gabriel Canyon. The total damage caused by wildfires in the San Gabriel Mountains within the past 60 years amounted to the loss of 332 homes.
Statistically, Malibu and its surrounding area has seen much damage done to its vegetation and inhabitants. There have been 24 wildfires that burned a total of 271,047 acres since 1927. These fires have caused a total of five deaths and the destruction of 1,502 homes along with 830 other structures.
Recent fires include the Malibu fire in 1985, Dayton Fire in 1982 and Malibu
Canyon fire in 1970. In the Malibu Fire, 103 homes were destroyed; in the
Dayton Fire, 85 homes were destroyed. The Malibu Canyon Fire, which joined forces with the New Hall Fire on September 25, 1970, destroyed a total of 135 homes and burned through a total of 85,000 acres (Wildfire sec. 2 p.1). Out of all the homes burned, 70 were located in Malibu and 65 in Chatsworth (Wildfire sec. 2 p.1). Previous to that fire, the last time Topanga Canyon had seen a damaging fire was December 30, 1956, when 74 homes were destroyed (Wildfire sec.
3 p.1). Another painful memory for Topanga Canyon occurred between 1938 and
1943, during which time three fires destroyed more than 600 structures.
1993 featured one of Malibu's most devastating

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