But the Spiritual Self-Help blog brought up the idea of underground heat as a contributor (or cause) of such wildfires. Furthermore, reports of the Athens fire "chasing us all the way into the water" or "all of the sudden, flames were at the side of the car" sound more like fire from under the ground than fire from spreading above-ground — though I don't know enough about fire tendencies to say for sure.
Doing further research, I discovered this article:
Southern California Hotspot Hits 812 Degrees, Baffles Experts
How many other hot spots like this are there that HAVEN'T been discovered?
After all, this one was only discovered "after the land got so hot that it started a brush fire and burned three acres."
Could it also be that they don't report every hot spot they discover? (After all, this one was discovered a while ago.)
Because I'm not in touch with the geological surveys of southern California, I can't say for sure. But I'm inclined to think there might be more than 1 undiscovered (or unreported) extreme hot spot in southern California.
What's going on? I'm not sure. It's just food for thought.
Unless of course, it's President Trump secretly heating hydrocarbons deep inside the Earth. Or maybe he's opening those cracks through which they're seeping out!
And even the theory about deep-seated hydrocarbons leaking out is just that: a theory.
There's no proof.
No one knows what's going on.
But perhaps such extreme hot spots should be taken into account.
Taking Things 1 Step Further
Mishna Sanhedrin 9 mentions the death penalty by fire for various sins, so that might be a good place to start searching.
I'll tell you right now that when I was in my teens, I knew quite a few cases of stepfathers abusing the daughter of their new wife or significant other.
It's a widespread social problem that has become much more common with all the social change occurring since the 1970s and it's still a hidden problem — sort of like the possible true source of all the fires is also hidden underground?
Liberals don't like to acknowledge the spread of this abuse because it disturbs their feminist agendas. And that's just one example; it doesn't cover everything. I'm not saying I know, of course; I'm just putting forth a possibility.
There are also more metaphorical reasons mentioned. For example, during election time in Eretz Yisrael, good Jews put up posters reminding us that "lashon hara sorefet" -- "slanderous speech burns."
Again, I don't know.
But Chazal insists we should examine our deeds (Eruvin 13b, Mesillat Yesharim: Divisions of Zehirut), especially in times of suffering.
The Rambam also insists that attributing purely natural causes to suffering is cruel because it distracts people from doing teshuvah (Mishneh Torah, Taaniyot 1:3).
Furthermore, a person can even be punished by Hashem for attributing his suffering to natural causes only.
(The Pele Yoetz is not the original source for these ideas, but he discusses the above in the chapters Yissurim/Suffering & Afflictions, Tzaar/Pain, and Tzarot/Troubles.)
In Eretz Yisrael, many Jews are striving to correct their behavior for what might be causing the burning deaths of innocent children here. Prayer rallies were held in which Tehillim was said and heartfelt mussar given.
If people struggle to understand the message and strive to correct problematic behavior, it should stop the fires, b'ezrat Hashem.
May we all merit to do true teshuvah from love & merit Heavenly Mercy.