Inferno on the Fifteen

Newscasts featured an apocalyptic movie.
People ditched their vehicles
on the freeway in thirsty California.

Drifting embers ignited thirty --
destroyed twenty -- cars.
Fire broke out in patches
unrelated, like middle school fights.
My jaw fell open

when flames leaped onto a car carrier
to claim new purchases.
A semi-truck's engine exploded;
smoke billowed from its hood.
Helicopter cameramen captured
sheer heat methodically melting rubber
and metal from cab to tail lights.

I wondered what
a volunteer was thinking
as he doused heat-scarred cars
with a large garden hose.