Fires

The wildfires that are burning in the San Gabriel Mountains just north of us, are the closest we've ever had. There is a level of uncertainty and heightened awareness among the residents here. There have not been any evacuations in Pasadena, but yesterday they were evacuating people in the city of La Canada, which is just west of us. When I got up, the smoke outside the house was visible. Usually, when there are big fires in LA somewhere, there is a reddish glow to the air, and sometimes you will see a thin layer of ash on your car. But this was as if someone was having a mammoth barbecue next door. Large flakes of ash were everywhere. When Dave and I left the house a little later, there were gigantic plumes of smoke rising up out of the mountains just a few miles away. It was dramatic, and beautiful and unsettling. The temp was over 100 and it was so dry, wet clothes were practically stiff by the time I got them on the line. Low winds made the fight a little easier I guess, but when we went to bed, the fires were only 5% contained.

Today when I got up, I breathed a sigh of relief because the air seemed much less smoky. I couldn’t smell it. But when I looked up the hill I realized the fires were even closer, having crawled east and over the ridge last night. I learned from friends in Altadena that evacuations were starting to happen just up the hill. We swam in a friend's pool this afternoon who lives up there, right next to where the wilderness starts. We watched in amazement as 707s flew close, dipped and dropped fire retardant over our heads. The mountains are so steep it is hard for them to do as much as they would like from the ground. Our friend and all her neighbors were in the process of packing belongings into their cars. It's close now, and when we got home, we could see the flames from our front yard. Even from afar, they are mesmerizing and we saw a lot of cars at the top of Lake Avenue with people who just wanted to see it. It is disconcerting, but we feel safe down here. We are at least two miles from the edge of civilization, so for us, even a voluntary evacuation order is highly unlikely. Lucky for us the wind was blowing the other way today, so we got the dramatic views without a lot of pollution.

It’s exciting to watch, but I'll be glad when it's over!