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Great Balls of Fire!!

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Oskaar

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
Administrator
Dec 26, 2004
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The OC
Well, if you're watching the news all of Southern California seems to be ablaze so I figured I'd take a look out my home office window on the second floor. Imagine my surprise when I saw a giant plume of smoke pretty close to my house. So I figured I'd snap a couple of photos now in case the wind shifts and starts moving it toward me.

As it sits right now I'm about 2.5 miles south of the fire so I don't think I'll see any action, but the wind is gusting up to 80 MPH at times so it could get a little hairy, especially with all the burning debris being carried on the wind and landing on flammable roofs, brush, trees and other things that pretty much erupt into flame.

LOL, just part of the charm of Southern California.
 
Oskaar, if the winds do change, do you have someplace to go?

(PS, I hope the fires don't affect the temperature of your mead room. :) )
 
I have a couple of places to go so I'm in good shape. They're evacuating about 2 miles east of me, and now they're evacuating to the north as well. Looks like exciting times. I'm going to the AHA Rally at the The Bruery and it's closer by about a half mile to the fire north of me so if we get any excitement there, I'll know to head home and pack up the dog, guns and valuables.
 
Have you got a truck big enough to save the mead too? I know it's more than just a carboy or two!

I'm not poking fun. Fires like that scare me. But if I had to evacuate the mead is one of the first things to be saved!
 
Yeah, I have my wine in the barrels now so it would be hard to move (I could borrow a pallet jack if need be, and my buddy's trailer is queued up in case)

They're evacuating about 3100 homes in Anaheim Hills now and it's snowing ash and debris outside. My gardeners are wearing surgical masks, I told them to go home and stay inside and come back next week. Most of the homes are fire safe (stucco walls and composite tile roof), but what's happening is the strength of the wind is carrying the burning embers into the attic vents and then the houses burn from the inside out.
 
Keep us updated. If you can't get out of the area, please stay in side and run some really good airfilters.
 
Well, the fire has jumped the freeway (91) and is burning houses in Anaheim Hills and there are now about 256 homes destroyed and about 14,000 people evacuated from Brea, Yorba Linda and Anaheim Hills based on what I'm seeing on the television.

Personally I'd like to see them set a few of these reporters on fire. They're literally sticking their faces into the middle of briefings the batallion commanders are having and interrupting them from conducting and coordinating the effort of fighting these fires. Pisses me off!

pFredd and I are dug-in and we're not going anywhere for the time being. The winds are dying down (at night they usually calm down) for now, but come daylight they will howling away again. I just heard that there are people looting in Sylmar. All I can say is wow!
 
PBakulic said:
Most of the homes are fire safe (stucco walls and composite tile roof), but what's happening is the strength of the wind is carrying the burning embers into the attic vents and then the houses burn from the inside out.
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Shit, that is scary. It's been super windy in Oakland lately too, but no infernos so far.

Good luck man!
 
Look at the bright side, no not the flames, the smoke is displacing the normal pollution so you can actually breath easier. Probably see further too, hell add an orange tint filter and the pictures would look like LA after a rain. :rolleyes:

Cheers,
Wrathwilde
 
No need to worry, I'll flee before things get ugly. The voluntary evacuation zone is about a mile away from me now, and the winds are picking up again. Still kinda doubt that I will have any problem from the Complex Fire which is the closest. There's a 1/4 mile wide flood zone (they call it the Santa Ana River) that the fire would have to cross to get to me and I don't think it will have enough fuel to jump that unless the wind kicks up some pretty substantial embers. If it does make that leap, there are a ton of palm and pine trees that will go up like bombs if anything hot gets near them.

Oh well, the natural disaster cycle of So Cal marches on. First we shake, rattle and roll; then we turn and burn, and then comes the rain and the mudslides! Woo hoo! Never a dull moment in the SoCo Zone!
 
Good to know which one to watch! Thanks for the update. We will keep vigil!

A lot of chainsaws were staged around my friends mountain cabins. When the fires got too close they ran around and dropped trees. It sure changed my views on living in the mountains nestled in the trees.

We had the Big Thompson River between us and the fire in 2000 and it worked then. The winds were so bad that it traveled mountain top to mountain top for 17 miles in one day. The ash and smoke were choking. I had to go out and wash off my plants every morning.

All the best,
Leonora

Leonora
 
WRATHWILDE said:
Look at the bright side, no not the flames, the smoke is displacing the normal pollution so you can actually breath easier. Probably see further too, hell add an orange tint filter and the pictures would look like LA after a rain. :rolleyes:

Cheers,
Wrathwilde
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Nah, nothing like So Cal after a winter rain. One look at the sky and the mountains and you know why everyone moved out here, all I want is for them to go the hell back where they came from.
 
PBakulic said:
Nah, nothing like So Cal after a winter rain. One look at the sky and the mountains and you know why everyone moved out here, all I want is for them to go the hell back where they came from.
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Your home prices would plummet even further if that happened. LOL. Of course if yours is paid and you've got the cash to upgrade...

I didn't say after a HEAVY rain. I was, of course, being facetious. I used to live south of there in the San Bernardino area, another smog basin though not nearly as bad the LA basin. I Hated driving through the LA area, especially after having lived up north. As soon as you start over the Grapevine the air turns a greyish orange. The air quality in LA always gave me a migraine, usually lasting the entire first day if I was there more than one, or until I drove out of the LA basin again. Interesting enough I've never gotten a migraine sitting around a smokey campfire. Awful stuff you're breathing round there. Yes, rains and high winds help a lot, but still, all those amazing sunset colors are caused mainly by pollution. As much as I miss SoCal, especially the Ocean, my lungs and head are happier here.

Cheers,
Wrathwilde
 
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PBakulic said:
Oh well, the natural disaster cycle of So Cal marches on. First we shake, rattle and roll; then we turn and burn, and then comes the rain and the mudslides! Woo hoo! Never a dull moment in the SoCo Zone!
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You forgot to mention the LA Tri Athalon. The Shoot, Loot and Scoot.
 
Bryon said:
You forgot to mention the LA Tri Athalon. The Shoot, Loot and Scoot.
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Nah, that's after the fires. They arrested 5 over the weekend who apparently weren't training for this year's event. They all got caught in the act.

Down where I live in the OC they take pre-emptive actions like actually establishing a presence and then verifying who belongs in there and who doesn't.

What a concept!
 
Hang in there, Pete! It seems from the news reports I've seen tonight that things might finally be settling down out there.

We were evacuated from our place in Fontana a few years ago, and the fire got within 1/4 mile of the house. We are STILL cleaning up ash from stuff we had stored in the outside shed, and this is after we've moved from CA to CO!

We feel for ya! Good luck with the denouement of this one.
 
Well, we've been fortunate here in OC. The wind shifted again on Sunday and the fires headed north into the Diamond Bar area so yesterday they let folks back into the Anaheim Hills area.

Safe and sound and snug as a bug in a rug.
 
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