Tag: fire

Preparations

It appears to be human nature to procrastinate and avoid the potential dangerous realities that lie ahead. We are certainly guilty of it. One thing we have decided is to get our proverbially acts together on many levels. Today’s job is to prepare for possible evacuation. The fires in Los Angeles make it very clear. And having seen the beginning plumes of the Palisades Fire as it began while sitting in an office, I need to be realistic.

Today has been taking a lot of time for me – Josh is easy enough. I, though, need more to keep my little mind from going nuts. He can put together a backpack of stuff, and I need more than a back pack . . . I need to pack papers and documents, electronics and their attachments, cameras, musical instrument(s), basic art supplies, writing supplies. Inky (our dog) needs food and water. We also have put together our hardly gourmet instant food pack, water. The cars have full gas tanks.

Why these preparations, some of which will be completed later today? The winds are returning over the next two days and so is the possibility we could be burnt out. After spending hours today, I am glad we are doing what we are doing as it would be a terribly slap dash and not well thought out way have to beat a hasty run for safety.

Blown Away

There is an expression, “An ill wind blows no one any good” that comes to mind today.  Perhaps we had an ill wind; perhaps not.

We had no electricity for two days.  The reason was the fierce winds flying through drought-ridden Southern California.  We didn’t get fires, although other places did.  Winds were recorded at up to 38 mph in my area.  No trees fell, luckily, but a few branches and dirt are all over the place now.  Our electric company, So Cal Edison and others, have a program called PSPS – Public Service Power Shut-off.  The purpose of this program is to keep power lines downed by winds from starting the types of fires that rage through dry country and burn entire towns, such as Paradise, CA, a few years ago.  Inconvenient if you like electricity, but better than burnt-out cities.

Living without electricity has become an almost eerie event.  By this I mean we are so lost without it – and without the internet!  It is as if you are picked up and plopped down onto a desert island.  We passed the time reading books by flashlight and Kindle-light.  Fortunately, the electricity doesn’t power our water or water heater.  Our stove top works with gas, which we can light with a match, even though the ovens are electric.  We also had to do dishes by hand and are now, with the electric back on, have access to washing our clothes, our dishwasher, and so on.  The phone service, though, was delayed by a few hours, and with that, the internet.

Despite a lack of electricity, I managed to do some rather bad watercolors by flashlight, and cleaned up some piddly crap.

My life is back to normal.

Life is back to normal, too, in Washington, DC!  I hope that our new President can turn around this country’s divisiveness, handle the pandemic, and lead us out of the mess of the past four years.  I hope we find a return to cooperation rather than “me, me, me” and “no, no, no”.

TTFN.

 

The Burn Begins

It’s January 14, 6:30 in the evening.  At 5 pm a brush fire started 3 miles from our house.  It was 87F this afternoon, with more heat to come, and winds 30-50 mph.  The wind is pushing it in our direction.  There is a 4-6 lane freeway between the fire site and our house, and multiples of houses.  All it takes is a few sparks blown on the wind, and all hell can break loose.

I am not happy.  No rain except a shower in 4 months.  Global warming, of course, does not exist, and all this is “weather”. Here is the twitter link:  https://twitter.com/VCFD+

Last Year, This Year

Fire season has begun! Up the coast, along Highway 101, the first fire has broken out near Gaviota. The land is hilly and grassy, and rugged in areas. This makes stopping the fire more challenging, and when the winds pick up, it can travel so fast. We have been having a heat wave in the 90s F for the past few days – today is supposedly the last one like that in our area. Then, down into the 70s F, which is much nicer. I used to love the hot winds, but they have become more fierce and destructive over the last few years that they are more frightening than ever.

This photo shows what we can be up against. The new spring growth, becoming lush in our seasonal rains, changes to dry, dead tinder for a wildfire. The swath of grey is last season’s new growth.