--- News story ---
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There is a major fire, burning since yesterday, in Chatsworth, California, part of the San Fernando Valley in the greater Los Angeles area. It covered 1200 acres by last night and is still burning this morning, now past 7000 acres. With so many homes threatened, the 1000 firefighters battling the blaze took the unusual step of keeping their aircraft in the air at night (usually they put a hold on aerial firefighting, due to the risks, when it gets dark). It was only 5% contained late last night, and at last report was only about 10% contained today.
This area is 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, along the Ventura (101) and Simi (118) Freeways. This Google map shows the area, with the fire in the northwest (top left) portion. It started near the 118 Freeway and is in the hills north and west of many homes. At least one home had already been destroyed last night, and other structures are gone as well. The priority for firefighters is protecting the residential areas.
--- My story ---
I have relatives who live there, along the edge of the housing area, and yesterday evening they called me for help in preparing for evacuation. To get to them, I had to talk my way through a police roadblock. I guess they believed my story that I was helping a homeowner rather than driving into the fire area to gawk, as some people reportedly did.
I helped pack photo albums, files, and other valuables into my car as they packed up their own cars. Standing on the front lawn, we could see smoke in two directions and flames on the ridge of the hill north of the house, as it came up from the canyons. Whether or not flames came over the hill on the west depended on the wind. High temperatures and heavy winds were keeping the fire going. So far, the wind hasn't pushed the flames eastward into the community. The major streets serve as ready-made firebreaks, but embers carried by wind can let a fire cross roads quite easily when winds are high.
The flames on the ridge reminded me of lava flows in Hawaii (which I have gone to gawk at), but much scarier because these flames were a mile or two from us and hundreds of other houses. There were helicopters above, and very little noise other than those aircraft and an occasional siren. As it got late (I didn't get home until after midnight), it was still very warm, with the eerie glow of the fire making it a bit surreal, as if there were sunsets in progress in multiple directions.
Firefighters are performing a full-fledged assault and I hope they will soon get the upper hand, and that I'll be able to return a carload of keepsakes and other possessions to my family tomorrow or Saturday, but they aren't out of danger yet and I'm still worried for the people in that area. And, to no surprise, I'm really tired today.
News link
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News link
There is a major fire, burning since yesterday, in Chatsworth, California, part of the San Fernando Valley in the greater Los Angeles area. It covered 1200 acres by last night and is still burning this morning, now past 7000 acres. With so many homes threatened, the 1000 firefighters battling the blaze took the unusual step of keeping their aircraft in the air at night (usually they put a hold on aerial firefighting, due to the risks, when it gets dark). It was only 5% contained late last night, and at last report was only about 10% contained today.
This area is 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, along the Ventura (101) and Simi (118) Freeways. This Google map shows the area, with the fire in the northwest (top left) portion. It started near the 118 Freeway and is in the hills north and west of many homes. At least one home had already been destroyed last night, and other structures are gone as well. The priority for firefighters is protecting the residential areas.
--- My story ---
I have relatives who live there, along the edge of the housing area, and yesterday evening they called me for help in preparing for evacuation. To get to them, I had to talk my way through a police roadblock. I guess they believed my story that I was helping a homeowner rather than driving into the fire area to gawk, as some people reportedly did.
I helped pack photo albums, files, and other valuables into my car as they packed up their own cars. Standing on the front lawn, we could see smoke in two directions and flames on the ridge of the hill north of the house, as it came up from the canyons. Whether or not flames came over the hill on the west depended on the wind. High temperatures and heavy winds were keeping the fire going. So far, the wind hasn't pushed the flames eastward into the community. The major streets serve as ready-made firebreaks, but embers carried by wind can let a fire cross roads quite easily when winds are high.
The flames on the ridge reminded me of lava flows in Hawaii (which I have gone to gawk at), but much scarier because these flames were a mile or two from us and hundreds of other houses. There were helicopters above, and very little noise other than those aircraft and an occasional siren. As it got late (I didn't get home until after midnight), it was still very warm, with the eerie glow of the fire making it a bit surreal, as if there were sunsets in progress in multiple directions.
Firefighters are performing a full-fledged assault and I hope they will soon get the upper hand, and that I'll be able to return a carload of keepsakes and other possessions to my family tomorrow or Saturday, but they aren't out of danger yet and I'm still worried for the people in that area. And, to no surprise, I'm really tired today.
