California is burning, again.

[RICHARD]

First the Monecito/Tea fire, Now there is a fire to the north of my house.

I am about 8 miles away and in no danger but I smelled smole about 10:45 tonight and smelled smoke. I walked outdoors and a car stopped at the signal on the corner and someone yelled something about a house on fire....


The Firehawk chopper is flying back to the base about .5 miles away from here...

I saw the news and heard that the fire was in Sylmar. I went out doors to my back yard and saw a huge red glow in the sky - got my ladder out and put it up against the the garage. Holy Crap!

You could see the flames and with a pair of binocs it looks like a plume of fire about 70-80 feet in the air....I have only seen that area burn once in the time that I have lived here. The area is packed with homes that but up against the Angeles National Forest.

KABC just reported that there are homes on fire now. :(

[blue]

BBQ AT RICHARDS!!!!



















Stay safe and dont do anthing stupid if its that close. Did you pay your insurance for the month?

[RICHARD]

BBQ AT RICHARDS!!!!



I don't need fire to do something stupid!:eek:

The Valley is a bowl about 25 miles across. If you look at it like a clock I live at the 3 o'clock position and the fire is burning at the 1 o'clock position at the very edge of the bowl, Above the fire is MILES of nat'l. forest.

Wowser. The area right below the fire-the wind is blowing about 20-30 mph with 50+ MPH due in the morning around sunrise- is jam packed with homes built right up to the edge of the mountains. We have the Santa Ana winds out here. You may have been part of it when you come out to CA at this time of the year. They blow hard and very hard at sunset and at sunrise and the humidity is 5% and it's 77 degrees. I think you can stream the coverage on KCBS 2 or KABC 7.

The part that sucks is that it's so close to the holidays and to lose your home at this time. They also just reported that there is a neighborhood where people are trapped in their homes.

[RICHARD]

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/index

Here ya go, bro....check it out.

If you watch the coverage in real time you can see that those LA County Fire Pilots have huge brass ones. I just saw a water drop the was totally blown off the fire by the wind.

scary as all get out.

[RICHARD]

http://cbs2.com/

You can click on the LIVE COVERAGE button and see another view of the fire.

---------

MY mom was at the rehab hospital about two miles away from the fire up until a month ago.

I think I would have righteously crapped my pants if she was still there.:eek::o

[Medusa]

I'm glad that you and Mom are safe, Richard. :)

[RICHARD]

The winds have taken the fire and spread it west.....more flying embers~

All last night you could hear the choppers coming in to refuel and change crews. What a long night.:(

[KYS]

I wonder how the fire started. :(
My BF calls me up at 5:00 a.m. to see if I am ok. :eek:
The fire has jumped over to Granada Hills area and many of the freeways
are closed. THe high winds are not helping matters.
I feel so sorry for all the people who are affected.
I have had to change Rocky's water bowls out 5 times already from
all the ashes.
I am trying to keep him in the house.

[RICHARD]

I wonder how the fire started. :(



Back in the 60's-70's there was a Nike base on the hills above Sylmar. The gov't. had put missles up there to defend the L.A./ San Fer valleys from a nuke/Russian attack.

When the base closed it became a place to drive up to, party and look over the San Fernando Valley. On nights like we have been having over the last few days you can see Catalina Island from there-that view around 40 miles from the top of the mountains!

It was probably some kids out looking for a good time-the area is one that isn't conducive to lighting fires and running away in a hurry, if you were stupid enough to do that you could get caught up there.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

Prayers on the way for all of you in the fire area!!! :(

I remember watching our down town burn a few years ago. The choppers dropping water and all, it looked like the end of the world.

Stay safe!!! :love:

[Catty1]

Prayers to all the people and those firefighters. There is a lull in the wind today, and they are not expecting to make much headway, so PT Prayers are flying out to them.

I HOPE that people made plans for their pets this time!

[Karen]

I wonder how the fire started. :(
My BF calls me up at 5:00 a.m. to see if I am ok. :eek:
The fire has jumped over to Granada Hills area and many of the freeways
are closed. THe high winds are not helping matters.
I feel so sorry for all the people who are affected.
I have had to change Rocky's water bowls out 5 times already from
all the ashes.
I am trying to keep him in the house.

Yikes, it is safe for people or pets to be outdoors, breathing with all that ash in the air?

Rocky, I know you may THINK you wanna go out, but trust me, boy, it's safer inside. Speaking as an asthmatic, you don't want to get any more particulate matter into your lung than you've already got.

[RICHARD]

The air quality depends on where you are in the area,
downwind is the worst - at my house it's breezy with occasional gusts.

In the areas like Sylmar and GH they butt up against the hills and get the compressed wind. I could drive west around 5 miles and get gusty winds about 30-40 miles an hour. It's really strange and one of the things we have always lived with.

There are two more fires, in Brea and Yorba Linda.......

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The City and County have a great pet plan in effect. The areas to the east are places where there are many horse ranches - The have opened up a horse and pet relocation center at the Dam/rec area up the street from my house.

There have been 4 hurt firemen and 1 civilian injured.:(


Just as I finish this the wind has started to pick up:eek:

[pomtzu]

I've been watching the coverage on MSNBC off and on for most of the day. Truly devastating and heartbreaking to watch - and made even worse with the holidays close at hand. So many people have lost everything. We have tornado warnings up here right now and it's getting black as pitch out. :eek: Wish me luck! :D

[Edwina's Secretary]

A mobile home park with hundreds of home completely destroyed. Sad indeed!

Although I am at a distance from the worst of the fires (there are some here in OC as well) I am miserable. The heat is oppressive (November???) and my lungs and eyes are burning.

Tell me again why anyone lives here???

[Hellow]

Prayers for everyone in danger because of the fire and prayers for the firefighters.

Now, someone please tell me why people like to live so close together? And in a place prone to fire at any moment?

[DJFyrewolf36]

Prayers for everyone in danger because of the fire and prayers for the firefighters.

Now, someone please tell me why people like to live so close together? And in a place prone to fire at any moment?

People like to cram into places where its pretty...without thinking of the dangers. Its like that in Lake Tahoe too, there are a ton of people crammed together in a place with a LOT of dead trees. When that place catches fire, there is usually a lot of property damage and injuries...yet when its over they rebuild.

Prayers on the way for everyone down there. A friend of mines dad was a firefighter in the Yorba Linda area...he had to retire due to an injury he got falling through a roof :(. Anyone who fights fires there has a pair for sure!

[ilovemypup]

Yeah, I've noticed my breathing is getting wonky. We are getting all the smoke with the Santa Ana's. Hope it stops soon!

[Edwina's Secretary]

The fires are about 25 miles from us. Last night we decided to climb the very high hill in our neighborhood. It is part of a park and very, very dark at night. Home to many critters, including rattle snakes and coyotes it can be a bit intimidating at night.

But there was a bright moon just a few days past full and we took a flashlight.

You can see quite a distance from the top... San Clemente and Camp Pendleton to the south, Catalina Island to the northwest, and in winter time you can see the snow cap on the mountains to the east.

And there to the northeast a weird orange glow. It seemed to be gyrating. It would get wider, taller, move from side to side...getting brighter and then dimmer.

It was eerie and hypnotic and frightening all at the same time.

A bit surreal was the sound of kids playing tennis on a lit court below.

[gini]

I just went outside with the intent of doing some gardening. One glance at my car told me that it wasn't a very good idea.

My formerly clean car is covered in extremely fine ash - all over the windows too.

If I stayed outdoors, I would be breathing that fine ash.

I live over 42 miles from the current fires. It is a clear day here but the sun is now orange and the light coming into the house has an orange glow to it. It is very strange looking.

A long time high school friend has been evacuated from her home. Please, keep a good thought that their home will be alright. She told me that her little puppy was acting very strangely and was very hyper.

[Karen]

You are all in our prayers. Stay inside and stay safe. If you NEED to go out, tie a damp handkerchief or scarf over your nose and mouth to cut down on the fine particulates you'd otherwise breathe in, okay? Better to look silly than risk your health for the rest of your life, okay? Be careful!

[lizbud]

Wow ES, sounds like a unique & fascinating experience. Are the fires coming
towards your direction? 25 miles is really not that far away.

[Medusa]

I spoke to my son a couple of hours ago and he told me the same thing, that the ash was terrible. Stay safe, Gini, and of course, prayers are going up for your friend and her puppy.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Wow ES, sounds like a unique & fascinating experience. Are the fires coming
towards your direction? 25 miles is really not that far away.

So far the fires are not coming closer. My husband had a call from a guy who works for him. His house is still standing but he lost his toys (fishing boat, camper) that were in a storage building.

It is odd. One house on a block will be left standing and the rest of the block gone. Friends of ours in Scripps Ranch near San Diego lost everything a few years back. They had ten minutes warning. Only one house was left in the whole neighborhood.