California wildfires burn into second week

Wildfires continued to wreak havoc in Southern California over the weekend. A flare-up on the western edge of the biggest and most destructive of the fires there sent residents fleeing on Sunday. The latest evacuation orders went to Carpinteria, a seaside city in Santa Barbara County that has been under fire threat for days. Over the weekend, California Gov. Jerry Brown blamed climate change for the recent wildfires, saying, “This is the new normal, and this could be something that happens every year or every few years.” Some fire experts in California say the facts don’t support the governor’s assertion, but this year’s fires are some of the worst on record. The latest six fires have burned an area larger than the city of Chicago.