SAN DIEGO – As firefighters extinguished the last smoldering embers of an extensive forest fire, residents and industries were heartbroken about the loss of perfectly good firewood that they could have set on fire for themselves.
“I was planning on having a bonfire over the weekend, but now I have nothing,” said San Marcos resident Shannon Arden. “There were so many good trees I could cut down, pile up and then set on fire. Instead, those dreams went up in flames.”
Local forestry and firewood industries are also devastated by the destruction the beautiful Californian landscape that they can no longer exploit and desecrate for profit.
“I lost two hundred hectares of prime firewood,” said Reid Piaras, owner of Charlie’s Firewood and Charcoal Co. in San Diego. “Tears came to my eyes when I saw a beautiful, uncut Californian redwood come crashing down and no one made money from its destruction. I’ll have to sell this land to property developers to make subdivisions and box stores now.”
At press time, the walking stick industry was laying off 5,000 workers and closing three factories as a result of the fire.
