Ted, wildfires here in Southern California are crazy. The nearest one is about an hour's drive from here, and yet over the weekend, the sky had an eerie orange tint, like we were in a war zone. Some ash snowflakes are even falling here.
Yes, my first month there I was greeted with ash flakes from the sky. They claimed it was an unusual event......strangely enough, it happened almost every year.
I grew to hate the Santa Ana winds.
Today the skies seem clearer, maybe due to shifting winds. But according to the 24-7 news coverage, the fires still aren't any closer to being 100% contained. Last I heard, 10 fires were raging, two of the major ones have merged, and I hear figures like "27% contained" or something like that.
They will continue to smolder until the rains come. We got our first decent rains about a week ago. Usually, LA follows a month later. However, for you guys, it may be closer to two months.
They say the original fires were set by arsonists. I guess in a region full of 25 million people, you're going to have at least one Beavis-n-Butthead who thinks, "Fire, fire, huh huh, cool."
Yup, at least one, every year. In LA, the ones that were really scary were the fires in Malibu. They were so close to the city. However, the fires always stayed in Malibu.
And the really fun thing........the fires burn off all the vegetation on the hills, and since the hills are mostly clay, you get all these fun mud slides during the winter. Be careful where you buy a house..........your life might depend on it.
ted |
