WHAT THE L.A. FIRES REVEAL ABOUT AMERICA'S BLEAK CLIMATE FUTURE LOOKING BACK, MY ELEMENTARY-school experience felt almost bucolic. My classmates and I ran around Saint Mark’s School’s 5½-acre campus carefree. With classrooms opening to the outdoors, we sat outside for lunch in the shadow of the San Gabriel Mountains and feared being sent to the administration building, a two-story house converted into offices. The smell of burning forest was a recognizable, if not frequent, occurrence.