Another One

"A red sun rises.  Blood has been spilled this night."  So says Legolas in the Lord of the Rings movie.



But actually (and luckily?) that was not the case this time.  Instead it was another California fire.  When people think of the disasters of California, earthquakes always come to mind.  Sure, those are unpredictable, and if they are big enough, they are scary.  But wildfires are so much more common.  And even once they are out, they continue to cause problems via mudslides.

This time the fire was in my town.  Luckily it was on the other side of the freeway from my house, and burning towards the ocean, rather than towards town.  While my house was safe, the base was not!  At one point I could see flames on the hill closest to the base.  The smoke and ash got pretty bad and the big wigs called an emergency meeting.

Shortly after that, the wind shifted and the smoke cleared and I could breathe again.  Ahhhh!  The fire started burning down the coast, rather than towards us.  Phew!

The red sun that was much redder in person.

Smoke coming from the right.  Sky still visible.

Looking towards the fire.  Note orange cast to surroundings.

Looking away from the fire.

On way home, black smoke from burning fertilizer- toxic!

Flames were visible on the hill on the right, but pictures were taken with my tablet so no zoom.

These pictures were taken on Thursday, with my tablet.  I was out of town on Friday, but from the way the wind was blowing on Thursday, the fire was heading down the coast away from base.  There were some pretty amazing pictures on Facebook of the fire burning right to the ocean. Not taken by me, obviously.

This one is a link to not infringe on copy right- taken from Santa Barbara (worth clicking on!)

http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=113640 

(click the link above)

This picture was taken right by my base.  The fire looks like it was just across the road.  I'm thinking this was taken Friday, when I was gone.  I hadn't realized it had come so close.

We had rain last night, but I just heard on the radio the fire is only 80% contained.  I say "only" since I'm wondering how it survived the rain.  On Thursday, the day the fire started, we broke a heat record, 98 degrees!, and today it it was very cool and damp.  Crazy CA weather!

Can't end this post with out thanking the firefighters and other personnel who did a great job saving homes, especially in Newbury Park and on the CSUCI campus.  Always love the firefighters, but even more so when they are saving homes!