The Wolf of Los Angeles.

Chapter 321 The Wind Roars, the Fire Burns

The bright sun hung in the sky, and the leaves on the trees curled up due to the sun.

In the moving commercial vehicle, Hawke turned up the air conditioning and said, "It's over 35 degrees outside."

Brian has been paying close attention to the weather these days: "Today's high was 38 degrees, and it felt like it would be over 42 degrees on the asphalt road in the direct sun."

There is little rainfall in Los Angeles in the summer and the daytime temperatures are hot. Since the beginning of the new century, the highest temperature in the city has reached 42 degrees.

Originally, most of California had a Mediterranean climate, with hot and dry summers and mild and wet winters.

But since the late 1990s, southwestern North America has been experiencing a period of extreme drought.

In Hawke's memory, the drought in his previous life lasted for more than 20 years without any relief.

A terrible fire is bound to come sooner or later.

Hawke opened the car refrigerator, took out two bottles of mineral water, and handed one to Brian: "From January to now, the rainfall in Los Angeles is only 1 mm."

Brian said: "The forecasts of the meteorologists at Caltech are very reliable, and this year's weather is pretty much what they predicted."

He looked at Hawke: "Where do you think the fire will start?"

There is a standard answer to this question, Hawke said: "For the past decade, wildfires have been in the Malibu Mountains, the southern Santa Monica Mountains and the Topkapi Mountains."

Brian said: "These places, except for the Malibu Beach area, are mostly inhabited by middle- and high-income middle-class people, small business owners, cultural and sports stars, and some government employees. The houses are mainly wooden structures, and the green plants on the mountains are mainly pine and oak trees that are rich in oil."

Hawke reminded: "You should get a suburban development plan and forest management policy in advance."

Edward's car stopped in front of a single-family house.

Brian opened the car door and turned to look at Hawke: "Aren't you going down with me?"

Hawke said, "This is your moment, I'm not going."

Brian got out of the car and walked toward the house.

The wall of this house is not particularly high. It is a wrought iron fence with wisteria planted behind it.

Due to the drought, many branches of the dense wisteria died, and many gaps appeared in the iron fence.

In the car, Hawke said, "Call and ask someone to come over."

"If it were more than two years ago, we could sell this kind of news for thousands of dollars," Edward said as he called Juan's cell phone.

It was through the freelance journalism industry that Hawke accumulated his initial capital.

A Ford sedan drove over, and Juan quietly got out of the car. He approached the wrought iron fence stealthily with his camera, found a gap, and aimed the camera lens at the door of the house.

Brian walked in and walked quickly towards the door.

The door opened and a beautiful and sexy woman came out, holding a little boy of five or six years old in her hand.

Seeing Brian, the little boy ran over quickly.

Brian picked him up with one hand, held the woman's hand with the other, and walked into the room together.

Department Hu An took these photos from a voyeuristic angle.

The commercial vehicle started and left.

Edward asked, "Boss, has Brian made his relationship public?"

“When I announced my candidacy, I made my relationship with Jennifer Hughey public.” Hawke also planned for this reason: “If nothing unexpected happens, they will be engaged next month.”

When you reach a certain level in politics, a stable partner is a must.

…………

Fox Center, Channel 11.

Due to the continuous high temperatures and drought, the weather forecast programs of major TV stations are trying to liven up the show and come up with something new to attract attention.

Channel 11 has long collaborated with the professional institutions of the California Institute of Technology and has invited experts to participate in the program several times.

Director Megan also personally came forward and talked with meteorological experts several times, allowing Channel 11 to establish a smoother meteorological communication channel with California Institute of Technology.

In the corridor leading to the president's office, the sound of high heels hitting the ground could be heard at a very high frequency. Elsa came to the door of the director's office, greeted the assistant, and entered Megan's office.

Megan put down her work and asked, "Did you call just now and the weather agency gave a new forecast?"

As Megan's former assistant, Aisha also served as the producer of "Nightly Weather Forecast" after taking on the positions of host and deputy producer of "Ace News".

At Fox Channel 11, she has been responsible for communicating with meteorological agencies.

Aisha placed the latest weather forecast on her desk and said, "Several experts from the Polytechnic University have predicted through weather satellites and the most advanced computer models that as the high and low pressures caused by the temperature collide, there will be strong winds throughout southeastern California starting the day after tomorrow and within the next week."

Megan immediately asked, “Will it bring rain?”

Los Angeles' rainy season is in the winter, Aisha said: "It is a dry summer monsoon, and the maximum wind speed is predicted to exceed 50 miles."

Megan picked up the forecast and read it: "How many days will it last?"

"About a week." Aisha said this, and then added: "Weather experts recommend that a wildfire warning be issued for Los Angeles."

Megan said: "It seems that there have been no large-scale wildfires this year."

Elsa remembered it clearly: "Yes, in May, there was a small wildfire in the San Fernando Mountains, but it was put out in two days. It didn't cause any waves. Only the TV stations and media in the canyon reported it. No one in the mainstream media paid attention to it." Megan read the forecast and said, "Report the weather forecast according to the experts' predictions."

She paused for a moment and said, "The weather experts have issued a wildfire warning... Well, Aisha, you should dispatch a group of people to prepare to report on possible wildfires. If you receive any information about this, drive the broadcast vehicle over there immediately."

Wildfires occur in Los Angeles every year, but the scale varies, and the media always pays attention to news in this area.

"I'll do it right away." Aisha left the office.

Megan put away the weather forecast, picked up her phone, took two photos and sent them to Hawke.

Soon, Hawke called: "Are you sure?"

Megan said: "Caltech has been working with Fox for nearly 10 years, and the weather forecast accuracy is very high."

"I understand." In the villa on the other side, Hawke hung up the phone, called up several photos he had received, and said to Brian, "Turn on the Bluetooth of your phone."

Brian asked as he turned on the Bluetooth, "Is the time right?"

While Hawke passed the photo to him, he repeated what Megan had said.

Hearing that Los Angeles is very likely to experience continuous strong winds in the next week, Brian said excitedly: "The opportunity has finally come!"

He looked at the photos and said, "Yesterday afternoon, I went to the mountains near Covina in the name of investigation. The dead branches and leaves had not been cleaned up for a long time. Under the scorching sun, they caught fire at the slightest touch."

Hawke reminded: "Pay attention to your side as well."

Brian was well prepared: "There are relatively few hills in Covina. Most of the low hills were rented to plantation farmers as early as the 1990s. They are all covered with fruit trees and have good fire prevention measures. For the only two hills, I have asked the city hall to hire people to clean up the branches and leaves and dig simple firebreaks."

Erica came over from the bar with a cup of tea and said, "I heard from a colleague that her community was planning to dig a firebreak, but had to give up due to protests from multiple environmental protection organizations."

Brian took the tea, looked at Hawke, and said to Erica, "Your boyfriend had anticipated this. Although all environmental organizations are slaves to money, there are many fanatics with brain problems among the individuals who make up the organizations. With just a little provocation, these people will go crazy."

Erica smiled at Hawke and brought him a cup of black tea: "Whether it's red or blue, the environmental protection organization is a very useful card."

…………

The sun is shining brightly and the wind is blowing hard.

On the edge of the pistachio plantation belonging to the Wandefu Company, a person in charge directed the workers to use several excavators to clear a three-meter-wide isolation belt.

Not only did they dig up all the plants, they also dug a trench.

Outside the park, dozens of environmentalists wearing green vests held up posters and slogans, clamoring for the construction team to get out and immediately stop this behavior that damages the environment.

A car drove into the plantation with Stuart Resnick, the owner of Wonderful, in it.

He glanced at the construction site from a distance and said, "Tell the security personnel to keep an eye on it. If those guys dare to enter our territory, kick them out!"

The co-pilot's assistant responded, "Yes."

The car entered the plantation and stopped near a grove of pistachio trees.

Stuart got out of the car and walked towards where his wife Linda was against the wind.

The latter was taking a planting expert to check the soil and water problems. When she saw her husband coming over, she said, "The drought is getting worse. So far this year, there has been only a dozen millimeters of rainfall."

“The high temperatures have exacerbated the drought, and the frequency of irrigation needs to be increased,” said the expert, holding his sun hat to prevent it from being blown away by the wind.

Linda added: “Many TV stations’ weather programs have issued wildfire warnings, so we should also pay attention to our plantations.”

Stuart nodded and looked at the assistant who followed him: "Notify all planting areas to increase the amount of water pumped, and all fire pools and water tanks are filled with water. No one is allowed to take water from the rivers, reservoirs and lakes we control without my consent."

The assistant said: "The chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department called us earlier and wanted to discuss the issue of firefighting water with us."

"Morgan?" Stuart had dealt with that old man a lot.

The assistant said, "It's the new director, Karen Crowley."

Stuart waved his hand: “Don’t worry about her.”

…………

Strong winds blew for two days in a row, but did not bring any rain to Los Angeles, which was in the dry season.

That evening, Brian stood on the roof of the villa, feeling the unusually dry air and looking worried.

The fire never started.

If we don't burn it now, the wind might just blow it away.

Brian made a phone call and called his trusted assistant and campaign manager Bacon.

Not long after, Bacon came in a hurry and left in a hurry.

In the early hours of the morning, sparks suddenly appeared in the uninhabited areas of the Malibu Mountains and the Santa Monica Mountains, igniting dead branches and leaves.

When the wind blows, the sky is filled with sparks.

The whole forest was on fire, and the pine trees, which gave off a scent of oil, became torches.

The sky north of Los Angeles began to turn red.

(End of this chapter)