SoCal on fire

It's brush fire season here in SoCal and it has taken off with a vengeance. Winds, known as Santa Ana winds to us locals, are blowing at 35-40 mphs with gusts of 65-70 mphs driving these fires. This map will give you an idea of where in the Los Angeles Basin the main fire is, but there is another fire burning up where you see the number 14.

The first fire is called the Marek fire and started at about 2:20 am this morning. The second, shown above, is called the Porter Ranch fire. Two deaths are attributed to the fire and several homes have been lost. It's believed, based on previous fires in the area, that this fire will burn all the way to the ocean before it's over.

Two freeways, the 210 and the 118, are shut down because of the fire and one of the fatalities was from a traffic collision caused by the heavy smoke billowing over the freeway and blinding drivers.

The fires are about 60 miles north of my home and I'm not in the path of the flames. We are getting the high winds at my house. I went for a bike ride yesterday afternoon when the winds had died down a bit and it was like riding into a head wind no mater which direction I went. The winds seem to swirl quite a lot. The winds are supposed to blow for another 24 hrs.

I just heard on the news that out in my area a tractor trailer has tipped over in the wind and a small fire started in a Norco riverbed south of me. I found all three of my trash cans tipped over this morning and I doubt that the fence on the freeway side of my house will last through this Santa Ana season. :-(