这场山火为何烧得这么猛？
美联社（AP）从自然因素方面分析了火灾的原因，认为当地长期干旱、气温走高、强风肆虐等自然因素为山火肆虐创造了条件：
Southern California is experiencing its most devastating winter fires in more than four decades. Fires don’t usually blaze at this time of year, but specific ingredients have come together to defy the calendar in a fast and deadly manner.
南加州正在经历四十多年来最为灾难性的冬季火灾。通常这个季节火灾并不常见，但一系列特殊因素的结合，打破了季节规律，以一种迅速且致命的方式爆发。
Start with supersized Santa Ana winds whipping
flames
and
embers
at 100 mph — much faster than normal — and cross that with the return of extreme drought.
首先是异常强烈的圣塔安娜风，风速达到每小时100英里，远远超过正常水平，将火焰和火星吹得四散飞溅，而加州的极度干旱更是火上浇油。
Add on weather whiplash that grew tons of plants in downpours then record high temperatures that dried them out to make easy-to-burn
fuel
.
更要命的是，极端天气反复无常：暴雨过后，植被疯长；紧接着，高温炙烤，将这些植物迅速烘干，变成了天然的燃料。
Then there’s a plunging and unusual jet stream, and lots of power lines flapping in those powerful gusts.Experts say that’s what is turning wildfires into a deadly urban
conflagration
.
此外，还有异常的急流，电线在风中乱舞。专家表示，这些因素正是将野火转变为致命的城市大火的原因。
此外，《纽约邮报》则从政府角度分析了这次火灾的原因。
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass faced scorching criticism Wednesday as it was revealed she cut the city’s fire department budget by $17.6 million ahead of this week’s devastating fires — as she prioritized funds for its massive homeless population that largely went unspent, according to a report.
洛杉矶市长卡伦·巴斯在周三遭遇了猛烈的批评，因为有报道称，在本周这场毁灭性大火爆发前，她削减了该市消防部门 1760 万美元的预算，优先将资金分配给了日益庞大的流浪汉群体，然而这部分资金却大多未被使用。
“It’s all about leadership management, that we’re seeing a failure of, and all these residents are paying the ultimate price for that,” said Rick Caruso, an LA developer who lost the city’s 2022 mayoral race to Bass.
洛杉矶开发商里克·卡鲁索表示：“问题出在领导管理的失职，导致了现在我们看到的灾难，所有居民正在为此付出最沉重的代价。”卡鲁索在2022年市长选举中输给了巴斯。
Amid reports that LA
fire hydrants
have run dry as firefighters battle the flames, Caruso said Bass was directly to blame — and called her out for being literally absent as the city burned.
在有报道称，消防员们在烈火中奋战时，洛杉矶的消防栓已无水可用。卡鲁索指责巴斯负有直接责任，并批评她在城市陷入火海时却仿佛人间蒸发。
希望伤亡人数别再增加。愿平安！
与火灾相关的英语表达积累：
be burned to the ground
被烧成废墟，完全烧毁
rubble
n.（倒塌的墙或建筑留下的）瓦砾，碎石；（建房铺路用的）碎石
fire fighter
消防人员
flame
n.火焰
ember
n.余火，余烬
fuel
