That's the view from our house, those clouds are all smoke. There's a large wildfire a few miles upwind of us, and we're getting the full show, red sun, falling ash and all! We're in little danger here since they built a mall on the grassland across from our house, but I hope that the fire-fighters we know like Frank Padilla and Dave Updike are taking care.
There's two major local fires. With winds gusting up to 90 mph for the next three days, and a drought that's left the brush dry as tinder, they could both cover a lot of ground before they're controlled. Down in Malibu, on the south side of the Santa Monica Mountains, the fire's smaller but in a heavily settled area and has already taken out some houses. The Castaic fire's to the north of us, it's much bigger but is burning through wild back country. There's also a lot of smaller blazes as the wind knocks down power lines.
We know from our trail-building experience how much fuel has built up in the Santa Monicas. In some places, there's dead brush above head-height, it's been decades since a fire's been through. I'm hoping there's been enough warning for everyone to get out of harm's way, because those sections will burn hot and fast.
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