The downside of living in paradise

[Shawn Pixley]

Most of the time where I live is a bit of paradise. But it can have an ugly side. This morning at 6 AM PDT, a fire started at the siide of the 101 freeway where the grade rises from the aluvial plain to the Conejo Valley. My normal half hour commute took an hour and one-half. With Santa Anna winds the fire is now over two thousand acres (4 Hours) in size and is likely to burn all the way to the ocean. The chapperal is tinder dry and the terrain is rugged.

Some of my staff live in a subdivision that was ordered to evacuate. They of course, are out the door. I offered up my house as a place of refuge.

I hope all of the others are staying safe. I only experienced inconvenience (so far). Others could experience far worse losses. I hope no one loses their life trying to save something as insignificant as belongings...

[curtis rosche]

For a split second I though there was a creeker who lived in my town,,, thatll teach me to read too fast lol

[Jim Rimmer]

I hope all are safe and damage is minimal.

[Chris Walls]

Shawn
I hope everyone is ok and no personnel property damage , but i think you misplaced Paradise. It's a small town in the eastern U P of Michigan, overlooks Lake Superior. Here in the western U P it's 30 deg right now and snowing, pretty stiff wind out of the north. It's supposed to be cold for the next few days and then warm up. It might make 50 deg by Tuesday. I still have snow drifts in the yard that are 3 feet tall. And it's been thawing for the most part for a week or so.

Chris

[Shawn Pixley]

The Springs Fire as it has been dubbed, has stabilized for now. The neighborhoods have all been spared so far - no homes damaged. RV storage areas have been burned and a couple of ranch outbuidings filled with fertilizer and pesticides have burnt. The CSU Channel Islands has shut for today and tomorrow. My staff and their families are all safe for now. Occupants are urged to stay away from the area as a health advisory. I was told that the skies above my house got very dark and rust colored around noon. The wind became on-shore at 5:00 PM raising the humidity though it was still 90 degrees in the valley. Most of the mandatory evacuations have been lifted. The firefighters will work all night though. I hope that they stay safe as well.

261527

At work, we activated the EOC as a precautionary measure. We also arranged for housing and shelter for staff and families displaced by the fire. We do this pretty well in my opinion.

[David Helm]

Sorry about the hijack; you're all wrong about Paradise. It's at my house!X Hope the fire gets put out soon.

[Shawn Pixley]

Sorry about the hijack; you're all wrong about Paradise. It's at my house!X Hope the fire gets put out soon.

Au contraire mon frere. We have a paradise as well, though that would seem ironic today.

Today started well and we heard interesting stories from those displaced. However, the wind changed direction. At 11 there were schools and part of the Naval Air Station evacuated due to air quality. At 1:00 some new neighborhoods were mandated to be evacuated. Later, we sent all non-essential personel home. The air was very smokey and we were getting significant ashfall. Visibility was down to 1/2 mile. While shooing people out 11 pumper trucks passed going to fight the fire in the new areas. In the convoy was a fire truck from Salinas which is a long way from here. The smoke and ash can get very threatening. This picture is at noon at my house from a different fire.

261563

That fire deposited burned twigs and branches in addition to the ash from a fire 35 miles away.

[Rick Moyer]

Geez, that last pic looks more like Hell than Paradise! Hope everyone is safe. btw, for all those Southerners who like to tell us Northerners how warm it is where they are, it's been mid to upper 70's here with very low humidity for the past few days and the next several as well. Bountiful sunshine, too. San Diego eat your heart out!:p