Tuesday, October 23, 2007

So Cal Fires: Day 3

(photo: LATimes)
700+ homes burned so far. Over half a million evacuations. And smoke everywhere. I work by the beach area so the smoke isn't as noticeable but I live inland and it's a lot thicker there. We have a state park in our city and we've been keeping an eye on the surrounding hills.
Living in a state of fires and earthquakes I personally fear fires more. Earthquakes are devastating on their own, however everything happens in an instant. Of course the aftermath can be equally devastating, but fires of the magnitude we have today linger for days and the damaged hill sides wreck havoc when it rains in the form of mudslides.
What I fear the most are the Arsonist. Once a large fire happens you can bet that these parasites will come out of the wood work to do their dirty deeds. I think at last count we have 15 fires burning and there is the fear that the San Diego fire will merge with the LA fire.
I was down in San Diego 2 weekends ago for the Miramar Air Show on a Sunday and I remember looking at the surrounding hills. There's a lot of fire fuel up there and all along the 15 Freeway, which is a pipeline into the San Bernardino county, which is also a hop-skip-and a jump from the Angeles forest. I can see Mount Baldy from my kitchen window.
To give you a perspective I heard this morning that the total acreage in fire is equal to the size of the City of New York.... and growing.
The skies are red and the winds were pretty strong last night. We left an upstairs bathroom window open and this morning all the counters, floor and shower areas were covered with a fine black powder. Not doubt soot from the fires.


(photo: LATimes)

We sure could use some prayers over here. For the Fire Fighters, Water Aircrews, displaced families and everyone affected by this toxic smoke.

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