In 1991, my childhood home in the Berkeley hills nearly burned to the ground in this fire. (It was the proximity of our house to the Claremont Hotel, which is an historic landmark, that contributed heavily to it being spared.)Tonight, fire is surrounding the Northern San Diego community where my kids spent their early years, and where good friends of mine still live. Hundreds of homes have already been destroyed, with more damage expected, and hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated.
Crews from the Pacific Northwest are headed southward this evening. It'll take them two days just to get there, and the prediction is that things will be even worse when they arrive.
I wish we could send some of this damp Pacific Northwest weather their way!
Let's hope for a change in the weather...
ReplyDeleteI know how you feel..........most parts of Australia experience bushfires each year....but some years are MUCH worse. By all accounts these are horrendous fires, and I am sure many Aussies are praying for those in the affected areas. Whim means you escape, or not. Even with good preparation, and adequate on site fire mitigation options.
ReplyDeleteI hope your friends are okay. Those fires are simply tragic
ReplyDeleteWe flew home from San Diego last night. Yesterday morning we had to drive from Carlsbad (Legoland), which is 35 miles north of the city, to San Diego. The ash and smoke had just reached us at our hotel when we set out south which felt ALL WRONG to be heading toward the fire but I'd been told that the freeway was open and that the air was clearer in S. San Diego. The 20 miles north of the city were scary, with the air around us thick brown orange. It looked unbreathable outside our car. Across the median, the 5 lanes going north were packed, bumper to bumper and traffic was stopped. I think if I were over there I would have panicked but instead we drove at normal speed through the worst of it and then halfway through San Diego the air cleared.
ReplyDeleteNow we're back in N. California with lovely clear air which I am so thankful for right now. I am going to finally really go purchase some good smoke masks and pack copies of important documents etc because the same kind of fires are possible here.
Sorry to go on so long. Hope all of your S.Cal friends and their houses are okay...