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| photo by Gene Blevins for the Los Angeles Daily News |
We’re on fire! I live in Ventura
County California. Ventura, Santa Paula
and Ojai are burning. It’s Santa Ana
season. Santa Ana winds create havoc in
southern California during the autumn months.
The Santa Ana winds originate in the Great Basin (mostly Utah and
Nevada) from cool, dry high-pressure air masses. They become strong, dry winds that like to
push wildfires. If we’re lucky we get a
bit of rain in September and October, but this year we got a heat wave
instead. High temperature ranged from
105-112 and scorched the landscape.
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| photo by Gene Blevins for the Los Angeles Daily News |
Now, the hills are tinder. Whereas
the hills are covered in plants accustomed to fire season, able rebound quickly
and easily, the homes doting the hills don’t recover so easily. Hundreds of families have been displaced,
many of those will have no homes to return to.
Mass evacuations are in affect and not just in Ventura. Three other
fires rage in SoCal, Sylmar, Santa Clarita and Bel-Air are ablaze. Blue skies have been replaced my thick smoke
ash.
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| photo by Gene Blevins for the Los Angeles Daily News |
The winds, gusting at times to 80 mph, are so severe helicopters and
planes are unable to fly over water drops.
We are fighting boots on the ground.
Firefighters emerge from the fray, smoke pouring off their bodies. Terrifying! We live and die by the great efforts of these
brave men and women.
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| photo by Gene Blevins for the Los Angeles Daily News |
My heart is breaking for the hundreds of misplaced and frightened
families, for those who will find themselves homeless on Christmas, and for all
the families of firefighters, putting their lives on the line to protect us from
the flames. And my heart is breaking for
this land that I have come love over the past twelve years. Our once picturesque landscapes reduced to
ash. Skeleton trees cast eerie shadows
that reach down hills and gullies. A steaming wasteland.
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| photo by Gene Blevins for the Los Angeles Daily News |
Last night my friend texted me a picture taken from her upstairs window
of the glowing orange horizon just beyond the grade. My girls immediately packed “go bags,” (bags
with necessities in case we are evacuated).
We are not in imminent danger, but that picture made things real. We had been breathing smoke all day, watching
clouds of smoke move across the sky, but seeing the fire from our window –
that’s frightening.
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| photo by Gene Blevins for the Los Angeles Daily News |
The Santa Anas are due to blow throughout the week. Fires will continue to rage, fueled by hot dry
winds. Firefighters will continue to
fight. The fire is at minimal
containment. It will stay that way until
the winds tire. This is fire season.
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| photo by Gene Blevins for the Los Angeles Daily News |
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