SoCAL is on fire!

[billie_morini]

There is a forest fire about 5 miles north of my Santa Barbara home. It has exploded from small to 21,000 acres (8600 hectares) in no time at all. I am not to concerned. Unlike the previous fire 8 miles to the northwest. my home is not receiving ash. Plus, there is a valley and steep front link range between it and us. Coincidentally, one of my Quality Control Managers in Kern County and my favorite Construction Managers in San Luis Obispo County have forest fires closer to their homes than I do. There will be no rain. We hope for no sundowner winds, Santa Ana winds, continued high temperatures, and no harm to fire fighters & smoke jumpers.

[BaNZ]

That is scary close. I hope everything is well. I was expecting the waves to be firing and not forest fire!

[jaffa1949]

Stay well,and safe Billie, hope the rain comes ASAP.
Cheers Jaffa

[oldmansurfer]

Stock up on marshmallows in case it gets really close Hope you survive it unhampered.

[BoMan]

In high school, I spent the summers in Pope Valley working on my grandfather's ranch. One of my jobs was to clear brush within 200 feet of the house in case of fire. Do you have defensible space around your buildings?
Take care!

[billie_morini]

Here are two photos. One photo shows the smoke over the ridge on Sunday. The other photo shows the sun on Monday afternoon. It was nearly blocked out by smoke and stuff. The entire western sky was this strange orange color. Ash began falling on our little property. To answer BoMan, we do not have defensible space because our residence is located in a small development constructed in 1950.

[billie_morini]

We'll be fine from the present fire in Santa Barbara county. My QC Manager in Kern County was evacuated from his home last night due to the fire there. He told me tonight they are having thunder and lightening there. There is not much thunder in SoCAL. Children may be 8 to 12 years old before they experience it for the first time. My Construction Manager is in a touch and go situation. The fire in San Luis Obispo is headed for his ranchita (small ranch or farm in Baja California Mexican language). He built fire breaks and watered heavily. Both comforting and discomforting, he told me tonight that fire command is setting up on the county road leading to his ranchita.

[billie_morini]

There are more than 30 major incident wildfires in California this year. I think the largest one is the Monterey County Soberanes Fire (87,000 acres [35,200 hectares]). A map and details are available at this link:
http://www.fire.ca.gov/current_incidents/?page=1

Here’s the present fire coverage for the fires I’ve been talking about. None of these are contained more than 30%.
Santa Barbara County Rey Fire: almost 24,000 acres (9700 hectare)
Kern County Cedar Fire: slightly more than 21,000 acres (almost 8500 hectares)
San Luis Obispo County Chimney Fire: more than 33,000 acres (13,350 hectares)

[billie_morini]

Correction 1.5 hours later:
Santa Barbara County Rey Fire: 27,000 acres (10,925 hectare)!

[billie_morini]

The fire near my home is burning more than 29,600 acres (12,000 hectare) as of this morning. It continues to roar onward! Beautiful forest lands with perennial & intermittent streams (with snapping turtles!), many natural hot springs, backpacking, hunting, dirt biking, bob cats & mountain lions, pink glow worms, and much more are damaged. Roxy Ridgeback and billie are sad.

[BaNZ]

Awh, I want to see Ridgeback sad face. I love dogs.

[dtc]

I think Australia and California are unfortunately able to understand how each other feel when it comes to bushfires. I've seen days like your photo of the sun; it's terrible

[billie_morini]

Well, the Santa Barbara fire I've been telling you about grew still larger today. It's grown to about 31,500 acres (nearly 13,000 hectare)!

The good news is the fire reached a geographic location where there is not much fuel. The bad news is the back country is all burned up.

The additional bad news is there is a new (small) fire to the west in my beloved Gaviota Coast. Earlier this year, there was a big fire in the Gaviota Coast in El Capitan Canyon. This earlier fire rained ash on my home for more than a week. The new fire is in Refugio Canyon to the west of El Cap. Sandra and billie spent the day here a few years ago mourning the passing of their Big Black 13 year old dog named Darla.

The back country and, especially the pristine Gaviota Coast, are near & dear to billie's family. Some moments, It seems as though all of Roxy Ridgeback's and billie's excursion areas are all burned up.

[billie_morini]

Well, the Santa Barbara fire I've been telling you about grew still larger today. It's grown to about 31,500 acres (nearly 13,000 hectare)!

The good news is the fire reached a geographic location where there is not much fuel. The bad news is the back country is all burned up.

The additional bad news is there is a new (small) fire to the west in my beloved Gaviota Coast. Earlier this year, there was a big fire in the Gaviota Coast in El Capitan Canyon. This earlier fire rained ash on my home for more than a week. The new fire is in Refugio Canyon to the west of El Cap. Sandra and billie spent the day here a few years ago mourning the passing of their Big Black 13 year old dog named Darla.

The back country and, especially the pristine Gaviota Coast, are near & dear to billie's family. Some moments, It seems as though all of Roxy Ridgeback's and billie's excursion areas are all burned up.

[billie_morini]

It's Saturday and the fire has reached 33,000 acres (13,000 hectare). We woke to a thin blanket of ash, but there is good news. The fire's growth has slowed and the fire fighters have it 45% contained.

[icetime]

Holy crap when I saw socal is on fire, I thought you meant the surf was firing not literally on fire, I guess cover your mouths when breathing outside ash sure does screw up your lungs

[billie_morini]

This saga is coming to an end. The fire is 90% contained. It has not grown in three days. Should be 100% contained by 5 September. Then it'll probably smolder for 2 weeks. Hopefully, when it ever does rain here again (we're 4+ years into big drought), it'll be gentle and slow. Otherwise, the thin soil layer in the mountains will erode and choke the rivers and reservoir. As Rosanna Anna Dana would say, "It's always something!"