10-25-07
'Witch Fire' Trumps 'Satan's Fire'
by Sandy C. Dennis
Correspondent
SAN DIEGO -- (Reuters) -- Nearing Halloween, major news venues have cleverly
exploited the titular relevance of California's 'Witch Fire', but have
ignored a larger inferno 30 miles southwest, near Satan's Creek.
The Witch Creek Fire gave an unusually macabre Halloweenish interest to a
fiery catastrophe often witnessed in California, and it was clear that news
bureau chiefs weren't going to let it subside. Audience share ratings seemed
to propel the use of the dramatic headliner, and at least one cable
viewership survey showed more interest in that particular fire than all the
others.
The Satan's Creek fire, though, actually is some 600 acres larger and has
burned about 10% more houses to the ground than the Witch Fire. And, yet, it
has barely been mentioned.
One resident described the towering flames of the Satan Fire as "hotter,
larger, more scary than the Witch Fire's" and claimed he even saw the face
of Beelzebub momentarily in the flames of his neighbors' burning house.
"I looked across the street, and saw Ralph and Mary's house fully ablaze,
and then there was this evil satanic face that appeared for a second in the
flames," Rose McRowen said.
Not many in the media are yet talking about a small 100 acre brush fire near
Black Cat Pond, but if it burns down some buildings, it will likely be worth
mentioning.
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