October 31, 2003
October 25, 2003
Fire Season
October is fire season here in Southern California and this year looks like it will rank up there with the worst in history. We are located about 50 miles south west of the nearest fires, however we are feeling the effects thanks to the Santa Ana winds. There was an eerie orange glow today from the smoke overhead with white ash that is reminiscent of snow as it falls from the sky and lands on our cars. Tonight the smell of smoke is everywhere. It's the first thing you notice when stepping outside. In fact its so strong, you don't really notice anything else.
I'm watching the news right now and they are reporting that over 200 homes have been lost today. It's hard to imagine what it would be like to lose everything. In fact I wouldn't want to imagine it.
October 27th is the 10 year anniversary of the Laguna fire. We lived in Huntington Beach at the time, just 20 miles up the coast from Laguna Beach. We experienced the same ash fall and smoke smell as we are today. Hopefully it will be another 10 years or longer before something like this has to happen again.