Fire, Fire Everywhere

Sunday night I was informed there was a fire nearby. I didn't see much news coverage (everything was focused on the Malibu fires). I watched the news Monday morning before leaving for work....again, no news about the so called fire nearby...all coverage on Malibu again.


So, yesterday morning when I left for work, I thought I would be fine. Wrong! The normal route that I take to work was closed due to the fire. It took me 45 minutes to get to the freeway (it usually takes 10). There was a ton of traffic.



Yesterday in the office, we lost power for about a half hour. I then headed up to LA for a conference. I knew there were fires happening, but since I was in downtown LA, all I saw were blue skies.



As I watched the news last night in my hotel room, I saw them reporting from the local shopping center, showing flames across the street. WOW, this is really happening. I mean, in high school there were a lot of fires, one getting really close, but it's just weird to see places you know on tv. They reported that as of last night, the fire is 1/2 mile from the historic local biker bar, Cook's Corner and this beautiful mansion, Rancho Las Lomas, where I had my senior prom and have attended numerous weddings. I am coming back to town tonight, not knowing if those places still exist.



I got a text from Eric tonight, "You can see the flames clearly from your balcony now." Uh oh. He assured me I wasn't in danger and I feel better because there are a lot of structures between me and the fire.


But when I drove home tonight from LA, it was like driving into the lion's den because I was driving directly towards orange skies and heavy smoke. The toll road was open again, and as I drove along it, you could just see "hot spots" along both sides of the toll road with areas of flames still burning. As I drove to my house, I looked to my left and just saw hills on fire. Wow, this is really happening.



I jumped in my car and drove to the top of the hill, where I took the pictures that are shown. This is the Santiago Fire. This is a really good interactive map to show the area of the fire. My house is just to the left of the words "O'Neill Regional Park" and my parents live where it says "Trabuco Canyon." The area between the fire and Trabuco Canyon is all dry brush. If the fire heads that way, my dad's house could be seriously threatened as he is backed directly up to the canyon.


I just checked, and it looks like the fire is 30% contained and the good news is that the winds are calm.



The sad thing is, this is nowhere near the devistation of the San Diego Fires. My friend's brother lost his house in the fire. So sad....


I think Wednesday morning's drive to work is going to be a wake up call to me, as I see everything in the daylight....



I will keep posting updates and photos of the Santiago Fire.....