CALIFORNIA FIRES IV
From Toni this morning:
Dear Family
I would have to say that last night was the scariest so far. Many evacauations were ordered and the fire is barreling down to areas very close to us. We're about 4 miles away from it- but it is in the foothills- in the Camino Cielo area. It would have to burn down the hillside and cross Cathedral Oaks to reach us. Fortunately, there are many orchards in that area which would serve as a barrier, but we all remember the Painted Cave fire was fueled by sundowners and crossed the freeway Last night it headed towards San Marcos Pass and is now threatening the same homes that were burned years ago in that fire. There have been NO homes or any structures lost to date.
The smoke and ash are thick- as in- it's snowing ash. Masks are being given to residents and we have all been told to stay inside.
Power fluctuations continue and when it goes out completely- especially at night- it makes everything look even worse than it is.
Brian is doing his very best to stay logical (!) and keep me calm. He continues to remind me of the direction that the fire is going. But it's pretty hard to stay calm when you have scenes like these outside your bedroom window. We have emegency bags packed and a few papers put together should we need to evacauate to Mia's house. I refuse to pack up the entire house and he assures me that I don't need to.
It has now burned 3000 acres and has been declared the # 1priority in the state because of the potential for loss of homes.
The wind has been calm ( thank you for those prayers!) but did kick up a bit last night. There are over 300 firefighters here but the key is the helicopters and planes which have already started up again this morning.
Fourth of July activities in Goleta have been cancelled (big duh!) so we will have a quiet day.
Keep those prayers coming for the firefighters, the residents and for lack of wind! Today will be a critical day.
I would have to say that last night was the scariest so far. Many evacauations were ordered and the fire is barreling down to areas very close to us. We're about 4 miles away from it- but it is in the foothills- in the Camino Cielo area. It would have to burn down the hillside and cross Cathedral Oaks to reach us. Fortunately, there are many orchards in that area which would serve as a barrier, but we all remember the Painted Cave fire was fueled by sundowners and crossed the freeway Last night it headed towards San Marcos Pass and is now threatening the same homes that were burned years ago in that fire. There have been NO homes or any structures lost to date.
The smoke and ash are thick- as in- it's snowing ash. Masks are being given to residents and we have all been told to stay inside.
Power fluctuations continue and when it goes out completely- especially at night- it makes everything look even worse than it is.
Brian is doing his very best to stay logical (!) and keep me calm. He continues to remind me of the direction that the fire is going. But it's pretty hard to stay calm when you have scenes like these outside your bedroom window. We have emegency bags packed and a few papers put together should we need to evacauate to Mia's house. I refuse to pack up the entire house and he assures me that I don't need to.
It has now burned 3000 acres and has been declared the # 1priority in the state because of the potential for loss of homes.
The wind has been calm ( thank you for those prayers!) but did kick up a bit last night. There are over 300 firefighters here but the key is the helicopters and planes which have already started up again this morning.
Fourth of July activities in Goleta have been cancelled (big duh!) so we will have a quiet day.
Keep those prayers coming for the firefighters, the residents and for lack of wind! Today will be a critical day.
And 20 minutes later, this:
Already a change....it has burned 5500 acres- and we now have 800 firefighters who are working 24 hour shifts.
posted by Mamie | 9:58 AM
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