the beauty and the terror

[nostatic]

Since everyone in the house fell asleep by 10pm, I went out for a drive on Mulholland up above the San Fernando valley. A little ways west of the 405 there is a dirt road that leads up to one of the peaks...I drove a bit up that and parked to get out and take in the view.

It is normally pretty impressive or depressing at night from this vantage point, depending on how your feel about city lights (there are a lot of them). The Santa Ana winds were whipping up dirt, swirling and snarling, blowing fairly warm out of the NE (at 11pm).

Glance east, and there is the Santa Clarita fire line...the entire ride one long thin line of orange flame. Turn west, and you notice a glow out towards the hills, behind which lie Simi Valley and a some other communities. But tonight the glow is not from the city lights, but from another advancing fire...orange and omnious.

I'm reminded of living in Pasadena when there were major fires (I think it was '93 or thereabouts). I remember waking early to go into the lab to prep a sample, and even though the sun was up, it was dark, the sky was brown, and ashes choked the air. At night you could look up to the foothills and see multiple fire lines working their way up and down the hills. Awe inspiring, and terrifying for those within harms way. With the winds, that can be on the order of miles, as during those fires there were houses that caught on fire that were not near the actual blaze...blowing embers ignited roofs.

It was also interesting to see the footage of destroyed homes and have my 6 year old comment that it must be sad to lose your house, and if there were kids that lived there, they wouldn't have any toys left.

Empathy...part of the hope for the next generation.

[speeder]

I just drove home from Laurel Canyon to Koreatown at 1AM, it was the warmest Santa Ana night I can ever remember and lots of wind. Recipe for disaster, of course, and it got a lot cooler when I got to about Melrose heading south. Could it be heat from the fires I was feeling?? Spooky.

Here is a shot at sunset today looking west down Melrose from in front of the Improv, lots of ash:

[Doug Zielke]

I feel sad for CA residents. As some may know, our Interior region had some very devestating fires this summer. Living on the coast as I do, we still had a hot summer, but no fires. We are grateful; very grateful.

[jyl]

I was living in Glendale in the early 90s when we had some fires in the foothills flanking Hwy 2, that destroyed many homes. I remember driving home between the gray smoking hillsides with helicopters circling the remains of homes. Around that era some of my friends lost their homes in the Malibu fires. I also recall being stuck at a trailhead on the Sespe (Ojai area) by a wildfire burning across the access road, watching the firefighters pulling water from the river pools. There's always fire in Southern Cal. When Jim Morrison sings "your hair is burning, hills are full of fire" in LA Woman you know he really knew.

[dd74]

"LA Woman" truly is the L.A. song around this time of year.

It seems almost sacrosanct that say "I've lived in L.A," one has to experience fire, mudslides and earthquakes to get a real flavor of what makes up a true Angelino, particularly a true Angelino's resolve to survive the elements.

Sure, other regions have fierce snow and more seasonal detriment. But fire is a horror that is not to be believed. But the victims will rebuild. It's in their blood.

Now, of course, since the brush has burned away, those who have survived will need to contend with the mudslides once the rains begin.

Those are a different kind of hell.

[nostatic]

so today my son and I head out for Zuma. We get there to find 15-30knot offshore winds...great for surfing, lousy for fires. Here are a few shots:

looking south from Zuma


looking north...smoke from the Simi Valley fire


looking west


What the sun looks like...

A few good things...







Then we start to head home...and run into a brand new fire in Malibu. They closed off PCH and we had to go back and take Kanaan, then come back on Los Virgines.

[nostatic]

A few pics from the 'bu:
A few pics of the action in 'bu:







The last one is of a tanker scooping for another drop.

[Jack Olsen]

Originally posted by dd74
"LA Woman" truly is the L.A. song around this time of year.

My wife and I drove out to Palm Springs Friday and came back Saturday. At one point, as everyone was turning their headlights on to get through the smoke, "Life During Wartime" came up on the iPod. It felt eerily appropriate (and, of course, ironic -- driving a freakin' Jaguar past innumerable acres of multi-million dollar homes).

It is a strange mixture, out here. Long stretches of absolute paradise punctuated with jarring visions of homeowners in hell.