As news of continued wildfires keep hitting airwaves and papers, it might be tempting to chalk it up as another disappointing aspect of this abysmal year, or to think that stuff just affects the West Coast. But that's not entirely accurate.
The wildfires in California and Oregon--and even up through Washington State--impact the rest of the country.
"AccuWeather Meteorologist Matt Benz says you can draw a line from California through St. Louis and on to Norfolk, Va.--pretty much every place north of that line is looking at smoke-tainted skies. Areas south of that line see less smoke due to air coming up from the Gulf," USA Today reported.
"Amazingly, that wildfire smoke has traveled thousands of miles and finally has reached the east," Mr. Benz said. "It looks like clouds, but it is smoke. And we are stuck with this until the weather pattern changes."
These fires are so devastating that two or three states have generated enough smoke to cover the majority of the others.
Everyone saw how catastrophic the wildfires in Australia were at the start of the year. And it might have been easy to write those off for some folks. But now the wildfires aren't just at our doorstep. They're inside the house. There's no isolating them to one area. Smoke travels thousands of miles to remind everyone something big is burning. It's killing and hurting Americans. Not Democrats. Not Republicans. Americans.
And Americans pitch in to do something about it. That's part of what makes this country so great. So if you're feeling the call to help your fellow neighbors a few states to the left, begin looking for places where you can send resources. American Red Cross is usually a good start.