When I woke on this day after Christmas, I walked to the living room to see what the day looked like, & I was greeted with this sight southern Californians instantly recognize: Wildfire! I could have predicted it!
The evening before, at the moment the moon rose, the winds began to blow and they howled for hours. Because of the drought conditions, the brush on hillsides is dry and any spark can ignite a wind-whipped inferno. We knew this smoke was coming from the direction we'd be heading home..
We'd promised the boys breakfast in town before we headed home, and then we went to the beach for a morning walk. There was haze across the horizon, but we'd sought out no news.
At 11 we drove the kids back home, packed up and headed back to town for a coffee before heading south. On our quiet country road, we were aware of increased traffic, and in town, when we crossed the freeway, traffic was at a standstill. At Starbucks, Ken talked to some men who'd just gotten off the freeway and they'd heard on the radio there was a 1200 acre fire 20 minutes south...and no one was going anywhere...
We turned around and went back to Ashley and John's to get some news updates. The Fire Captain's reports seemed the most reliable, so we settled back to wait a few hours, glad that we had an option!
By 4 we learned the highway was open again, and we had a fairly smooth ride home with little traffic. The burn area was down to the road and in a few places, had jumped the highway to the ocean side. Firetrucks were still lined up as containment wasn't complete, though probably consisted only of hot spots.
This is one of the disasters we learn to live with out here. Dark humor has locals saying that we DO actually have seasons out here...
Fire Season...
Earthquake Season...
Drought Season...
...and when we DO get rain...
Flood-and-Mudslide Season...
And 99% of the time we live here for balmy days and blue skies... Go Figure...
glad you are safe Louise. Wild fires or bushfires as we call them are devastating. Here in Victoria where we have been over Christmas fires destroyed 116 homes along a magnificent stretch of coastline. A tragedy at any time but on Christmas day even more so.
Glad you got home. I was just commenting to @harbie about the weird weather patterns at the moment severe flooding in the north of England and spring like days in the south. It's a bad El Nino year
I know the fires all too well as we lived next to the Irvine Ranch for years and of course we had one really big fire come right up to the property line as we and the firemen fought it off. Evacuation is one of my most fun stories for people who have never lived through it! You are right, through the fear of losing your home and all your possessions, humor must come through or you will fall apart!
Right now England is flooding, my city Toronto had the warmest Christmas on record (17C on Christmas Eve and of course no snow) and you guys are burning. I wonder where the world will be 100 years from now with all these crazy things happening?
@stownsend I remember well the Porter Ranch fire! The people who responded here probably don't realize we have names for all these location-events, and they become a part of our vocabulary in the years that follow. Yuma is probably a safe, dry place to be!
@cruiser What a sad bit of news from your side of the world,Nick. My heart goes out the all those families and the community on the whole. I'm well-aware of the fires that devastate Australia. Friends who live there tell us that, under control, they open seed pods and provide a place for new growth, but homes don't fit that category! It's truly heart-breaking and I'm so sorry.
@jamibann@quietpurplehaze@nickspicsnz@kelly2@francoise@kwiksilver Thanks for your comments. We were never in any danger that day, but out here, you never know about fires. We were "inconvenienced" at worst, but were in a much better situation than most, having our daughter's home to return to until the fire was put down and traffic cleared. Just thought people might be interested in seeing a bit of what California goes through behind the scenes.
Have seen it on the news. So many climate/weather disasters happen to the U.S. A. now. Poor victims that lost there life`s in it. Take good care and stay save.
I know exactly what you mean Louise, it's scary stuff, and I believe where you are and some parts of Oz are very similar with respect to fires. Sometimes we've even sent crews to California to help out, and I think vice versa. We've had bad bushfires, as we call them, around 50Km north of us, and a really bad one about 90Km west of us where the Surf Coast meets the Otways forest country. About 120 homes lost already in the latter, around half a dozen in the former. The whole place is dry as tinder.
My first thought on seeing this was what a lovely image of a sunrise/sunset? So glad I read the commentary and realize what a scary sight that must have been for you.Glad you are safe!
Loved your story. We have had our share of natural calamities like the floods in my city Mumbai a few years ago, last year in Kashmir and recently in Chennai.
December 31st, 2015
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