OT [very] My Hometown is on Fire

My prayers go out to you and all who have these fires to contend with.

Fire is one of our most useful assets and scariest forms of energy. An instant of stupidity with fire can last down many lifetimes. Be careful out there.

Keeping in my prayers all affected by the fires.

Oh, Ginger, I'm sending up prayers for everybody affected by these terrible fires and a few special ones for you and your friend(s).

Leslie & The Furbabies in cool, wet, rainy MO. (wish I could send some of my weather to you)

My sister is in Lake Elsinore and is experiencing all kinds of respiratory issues just from smoke and soot in the air coming in on the winds. I am keeping all you Californians in my thoughts. #Wish I could send you some water. It has been raining every day for 3-5 hours for the last 2 weeks.

Ginger, It is heart wrenching to read/see the devastation in the lovely state of California. I'll continue to pray for safety of the fire and rescue folks, the residents, and the critters. Take care and please stay in touch with us. Hugs, PAT in VA/USA

Ginger, that's so terrible. I hope you and your family and friends are able to stay safe! When we had fires last year in southern GA and northern FL, there were days when it was hard to breathe even here in north GA because the air was so full of smoke.

Carole D. - Retired and loving it in the foothills of NW Georgia

My quilts, crafts, QIs, and more -

Nothing OT about this. You can't sew if you can't breathe.

Prayers for the area.

Cindy

Prayers and rainy thoughts on the way! Parts of AZ are starting to burn, too. I always dread the fire season. Can't imagine how much worse it is in California!

My friend had actually moved a bunch of things two weeks ago down to a house where he used to live, as a precaution. Besides that then, he got the two carloads. I am going to try to call him a little later.

The area is very prone to "sundowners" where the wind comes up at the sunset hours, sweeping down the mountains out to the ocean's cooler air. As of this afternoon further evacuations are in place, and the air is worse. There are lots of air craft updoing retardant and water drops.

As a child I was fascinated to watch the dance of flames in the fireplace, especially at the holiday time when we burned wrapping paper. As an adult I was involved in a barn fire while training racehorses. Fire can be so destructive to life and property, while so life-giving to the seeds that require the fire's heat to germinate.

Ginger in CA

I know how to pray but haven't ever tried 'rainy thoughts'. No matter. I'll join you. Prayers and rainy thoughts it is. Polly

Now over 6000 acres.

They brought in a DC-10 today, flying in every 1.5 hrs from Lancaster [where there is a former military base with a big runway]. It lays down a mile long swath of retardant with each flyover. They are reporting it did a good job.

Over 1000 firefighters on the line now, another 1000 due tomorrow.

Gap Fire as it is called is now threatening to jump over H154, which is the area that all burned 18 years ago.

Cost is $2million right now.

Human caused, origin site cordoned off near Winchester Canyon Gun Club [the one my dad built in 1962].

Sundowner winds are starting now, up to 20 MPH.

Ginger in CA

- snipped-for-privacy@u6g2000prc.googlegroups.com...

Continued prayers for all.

That seems to be the big one here. It sounds like they are getting a handle on the Yucaipa fire. Not sure about the new one in Malibu.

That tanker (unless it has been moved but it had a 3 yr contract in '07) is out of Victorville (my town) The closed George Air Force base is now SO. Cal. Logistical Airport (SCLA) Victorville is good for little but a potty stop between Vegas and L.A. so we gotta take what little good we have and brag. That plane is really awesome. I thought I heard there had been 1 firefighter that has been lost but can't find any real info about it. I sure hope the fireworks tonight don't cause any more problems. Hugs to you all Ginger, Taria

G> Now over 6000 acres.

been watching lots on CNN here about the fires in Calif. it scares the heck outta me. had a fire start under our house early one saturday morning when i was a kid. no one else was up 'cept me watching cartoons. the neighbour spotted the smoke coming out from under the chimney and ran over with his garden hose to tackle it til the fire dept got there (he'd called them first). turned out when they'd built the chimney (we had it added to the house, didnt come with one) they'd forgotten to put in a solid concrete slab between the ashbox and the underhouse, stupid or what? omg. eventually the ashes heated up enough that it set the house to smouldering. that was really scary. as a result of that i'm really paranoid about anything that might start a fire in the wrong place.

seems to me its ask> That seems to be the big one here. It sounds like they

My sister was up in Prescott this weekend, making a start on cleaning a cabin she just bought. She meant to stay till Sunday afternoon but came home today because the fire that caused Crown King to be evacuated was heading for the highway and she was afraid she would be cut off from the fastest way home.

Here in Tucson we had a good monsoon shower just an hour ago, and I hope it dampened things down all over AZ. Especially for those folks who had to evacuate their homes and the ones who, like Pati, are suffering from the smoke.

How come those monsoon rains don't hit the California coast when the folks there need them most? Or are they peculiar to the SW desert areas? Just curious, in case anyone here knows the answer.

I am in the high desert, just on the edge. 12 or 15 miles maybe from the top of the pass. We get the afternoon build up of clouds sometimes, usually in the end of August. It happens and we might get rain a few times a season. The coastal weather has no relation to what goes on here except the santana winds, usually in the fall.

I think they are having fog over near the coast but it burns off pretty early when they do have it. Lots of different micro climates here. We get something like 8" of rain a year and in one odd spot at the bottom of the pass they can actually get 40".

The bark beetles have been such a problem > My sister was up in Prescott this weekend, making a start on cleaning a

The firefighter I heard about was up in the Big Sur fire, didn't happen on the line. He was a volunteer. The other one was the young man in Orange county who had come home the day before from fighting fires in northern Calif; he had a brain aneurysm.

Fireworks were cancelled in Santa Barbara [right next to Goleta where the fire is], then at 6:30 they cancelled the fireworks in the Santa Ynez Valley [over the mountain from the Goleta fire] due to not enough resources. Unfortunately right now there are a bunch of people setting off illegal fireworks all around me. There are a lot of very tall palm trees in this area, which are like popsicles if they catch on fire. Gosh what a bunch of idiots. There are not enough law enforcement to cover.

My friend is still evacuated. He is staying with a buddy. So far he thinks his house is okay.

G> That seems to be the big one here. =A0It sounds like they are getting a