Throughout this awful fire season, there’s been much armchair debate over the wisdom — and, yes, the morality — of failing to follow orders to evacuate.
Are those who stand their ground brave or foolhardy?
Are they selfish or selfless, in that some stay behind not just to protect their own homes, but their neighbors’ homes as well? For many of us far from the danger zone, it’s a hypothetical slam dunk: If ordered to leave our homes on account of a fire — or any other natural disaster — we’d get the heck out of Dodge as quickly as possible and let the professionals do their jobs. But in real life, that’s proving to be less and less the case because fire authorities say an increasing number of residents are ignoring orders to evacuate and choosing to stay and defend their homes.