Monday, October 22, 2007

Driving Through the Smoke


So far, everyone here is OK. We're staying alert, and Fire Marshall Margaret is on the job! Count on it!

Still, it's very unnerving to have this much land up in flames and smoke. We live in an area that is known for it's almost daily strong winds---the wind usually comes up in the afternoon and stays around for a couple hours. But the Santa Ana condition that is tearing down the mountain passes and canyons is a ferocious, erratic and hot wind. It can calm down to nothing in the wink of an eye, then stir itself up to 80 m.p.h. swirls in the next blink. My windshield cracked from the force of small road debris being hurled at 75 m.p.h down the canyon I was travelling up at 70 m.p.h.

Santa Clarita is about 32 miles and across some 3200-foot mountains from the Antelope Valley where we live. The area that burned today near Stevenson Ranch and Magic Mountain is only about 20 miles from us.

4 comments:

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

excellent reportage there FMM!

by the way, how many hands were on the wheel when you snapped that pic with your iphone while going 75mph down the canyon through smoke and debris?

uh huh, just as i thought.

you are so grounded.

Unknown said...

Karyn:

Do you think she was taking the photos while hanging out the sunroof and steering with her kneecaps at 75mph on the highway through the smoke and debris? She lives her life as a graphic novel—a daring adventure or nothing. How is T.T.'s eyesight, by the way? Lordy, I hope they're not crowdsourcing smokejumpers.

Unknown said...

Have you checked out the SignOnSanDiego.com interactive fire map?