Hiker faces backlash after sharing photos of 'selfish' behavior in California wilderness: '[This] filled me with a fiery rage'

A hiker on Reddit shared what they thought was a nice set of photos of their trip in the California wilderness, but they faced backlash over a part of their camp.

In the r/norcalhiking subreddit, the hiker posted a series of photos from their stay at Gem Lake in the Emigrant Wilderness during the Fourth of July, including their campsite, which showed a blazing fire.

People in the comments were outraged by the hiker's seeming carelessness.

"For f**** sake: Do NOT have campfires in CA in the summer," one person wrote. "Doesn't matter if it's technically legal or not, it's 1000% worse than taking your dog on a trip and leaving s*** everywhere. Humans cause somewhere between 85 and 95% of wildfires in the state."

The indignant Redditor's statistic was accurate, as the National Park Service states 85% of wildfires are indeed caused by humans through sources such as unattended campfires, burning debris, equipment use or malfunction, cigarette butts, and arson.

"You're risking everyone else's wilderness for no reason with that fire. You are also risking the lives and health of wildland firefighters who get paid $15 an hour. Stop doing that s***," another angry commenter wrote.

While this post caused concern because it was made in summer, California wildfires are becoming a year-round issue. Los Angeles just experienced the most destructive fires in its history, with the Palisades and Eaton Fires killing 29 people, burning over 37,000 acres, and decimating thousands of homes and businesses. While the causes of the fires are unknown, a combination of drought, low humidity, and the Santa Ana winds led to the fast-moving ignition of an abundance of vegetation after a whiplash of extreme weather conditions over the past few years.

The lasting impact of these and other fires is enough for people to be vigilant about fires and fire safety.

"Your campfire in the middle of the summer in wildfire territory filled me with a fiery rage. You are so selfish," a Redditor wrote.

Do you think America does a good job of protecting its natural beauty? Definitely 👍 Only in some areas ☝️ No way 👎 I'm not sure 🤷 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

Another was actually thankful for the hiker's post, saying: "Please leave this up for others to learn from and I hope you'll take the lesson too. A fire is a luxury that we only have in winter -> at latest early summer but even that is pushing it."

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