New fire, too close for comfort

[B_and_D]

If you haven't heard, there is a new fire near Watsonville and this one is CLOSE!

We have all our files, clothes, pictures, packed into our 4 cars and the TM hitched up.

It's still over on the other side of the freeway but there are helicopters hovering above our house and planes flying everywhere. I just pray that the wind doesn't change directions.

We're ready to go.

[countrygirl]

I will keep you all and your situation in my prayers. We had a woods fire behind our home two years ago...even though it was fairly small it was nerve wracking!

[B_and_D]

Thank goodness for us, the wind changed and started blowing east. This is what we saw from our driveway earlier yesterday afternoon.

It's taking way longer to unpack than it did to pack.

Arson is suspected. An unknown number of homes were lost on the east side of Highway 1. The fire was 90% contained as of this morning and the news said that 100% containment was expected today.

That is very scary! Glad to see everything worked out for all and you didn't have to move out. It's amazing how one's life can change in an instant. Just another reminder to appreciate each and every day.

Linda
08 2720SL
07 GMC Sierra 1500 w/Crew Cab

[B_and_D]

We are so grateful that the wind shifted...but I drove by Hwy 1 this afternoon and saw only a part of the area the fire burned, the roads where the worst of the fire burned are still closed. One house, made of cement block, visible from the highway, was completely burned out, and I felt really sad for those people who lost their homes. Total devastation. There are rumors about someone in a silver SUV on the side of the highway starting fires and there is crime scene tape around one area right next to the highway. Someone else also reported seeing a person towing a trailer that had a flat tire (down to the rim) that was sparking and caught the grass on fire. This afternoon there were many people parked in cars next to the roadblock under Highway 1 waiting to get back to their homes but not yet being allowed in. The fire still isn't out completely. This afternoon we had a freak thunderstorm with a lot of lightning strikes that set off even more fires. They were all contained quickly. We rarely have lightning strikes like that this time of the year around here. What with the major flooding in the midwest and three big fires here already this summer, things seem kind of crazy.

Today, Tuesday 6/24, I can not see the mountains at all. They are not more than 2 miles away. I can not see the sky.

It is obviously smoky. I can not smell it. Perhaps because I have had a runny nose all week, due to hayfever I think.

I just got home from a camping trip to Kennedy Meadows in the southern Sierras and we had a fire that came to within 2 miles of the campground.
Kinda scary! Elevation of campsite was 6100 feet and about 170 miles N.E. of Los Angeles.

[B_and_D]

I think this is going to be a bad summer for fires here in CA. There is a fire burning at Big Sur, last time I heard Hwy 1 was closed down between the 2 state parks there.

It's bad enough having lightning strikes starting fires all over the state, but even worse having some nutcase starting them on purpose by the side of the highway.

No people were killed in our nearby fire, but the local newspaper said that over 200 animals & pets died. The fire overcame the area so fast that some people had to leave without even their shoes. The animal rescue people couldn't get in because Highway 1 was closed and the alternate routes were overwhelmed with traffic.

The local newscasters have been emphasizing the need for clearing rural properties within 100 feet around the house.

[rickst29]

and Reno set a 25 year record for "worst air" today (particulates over 300; the EPA standard for "unhealthy" starts at just 180). I've personally had worse, a pretty bad fire got within 8 blocks of my house last year.

We're probably getting a bit of Santa Cruz and Monterey, but the big pounding is from Northern fires (most of em' like within about 80 miles W+N+E of Mt Shasta north of Redding). And especially, the big ones around Quincy, and up hwy 20 from Grass Valley. Smoke's so bad they grounded the Airplanes on those fires. And I agree with BD, it isn't even July... we could have a VERY bad summer.

This sucks. Where's the National Guard when we need 'em ???

With all of the people upside-down in their home loans I would think the number of "fires" will go through the roof, I hope it's not the case but my father talks about all of the people burning their homes in the 80's when interest was 18 - 20%.