Fire: Day 2 - The Battle for Saugus

It always amazed me how fast a situation can change from one of terror, to one of calm. I left yesterday morning and there was all this fire ringing my area and in some cases within maybe 2 miles of my house and then I come home in the evening, to calm. I could still see 2 ridges filled with flame, but they were new and burning toward the west, bad for Stevenson Ranch, in the short term, since it it moving west, but not for me and my house. With so many fires going, getting a handle on status of an individual one is hard, but the feeling I got, was one of survival. We had taken another bullet and we had survived. The media, of course doesn't make it any easier, showing big monster flames for hours on end, but they get caught in the same thing that causes people to set them in the first place. That mesmerizing feeling one gets watching flames in action. Why do we light our fireplace? Not for warmth, though that is a nice by product, usually just to stare at. It must go back, right to our cave man beginnings. Yes, some of these fires were set off by power lines being blown in the high winds...but sometimes they are set by those who want to see the fire up close. Truly a sad state of affairs.
So for today, I say a prayer of thanks that the immediate danger has lessened a bit, but it is not over yet. Schools continue to be closed and the winds are forecast to continue today.

A sad postscript:
I just heard before I left for work that Lombardi Ranch, which I blogged about a month ago, was not as lucky as we were. Some parts of his ranch took a major hit and his one of a kind pumpkins that kids climb on, trucks and tractors, all had damage, or were destroyed. I hope he rebuilds, because generations of children have played on his decorations.

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Photo Credit:
Screen capture of
a cool little interactive
link on the LA Times site.
You can instantly get updated
information on every current
fire burning at that time.