Reply #12: It's very awful here. Over 50,000 acres so far

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

Basically there SEVERAL hot spots, some with the ability to connect and they encompass a HUGE area. The fire in Camp Pendleton is quite large as well and there is a fire up in Simi Valley to the north and the fires in Lyttle Canyon to the east and the Big Bear fire now makes the entire LA Basin COMPLETELY engulfed by black thick soot. Ashes are raining everywhere in Orange County and a thick coat of ash covers everything.

I am 25 miles north of one fire and 40 miles west of another (the Simi one is over an hour away, and the air smells like the fire is right here in town. YOu cannot look up to the sky without getting eyes full of ashes (unless you wear glasses, then I suppose it's not an issue)

The color of the sky reminds me of the atmosphere in the movie Escape From LA...it is very sad and you just KNOW, the damage when all is said and done is going to be severe.


We have all the makings of a fire storm. This is going to be quite devastating. It's the last thing we needed, and it COULD get very much worse.

With the winds kicking up, the fire in the Simi area and another fire further north in Ventura could connect.

It is miserable air quality. Your nose and throat burn and it is quite dry with the Santa Anas kicking up. The gustier they get, the nastier those fires will be since they are in areas near passes that would pick up the winds ten times worse.


Here's a news update:

LOS ANGELES, : Wildfires threatening the Los Angeles suburbs doubled in size, consuming at least 15 houses and forcing thousands more people to flee, officials said.

Some 3,500 homes were threatened as the fire zone grew to 27,000 acres (10,000 hectares) in just 12 hours, as the winds drove the flames towards outlying parts of the second largest US city, officials said.

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Hot desert "Devil winds" fanned the flames from the slopes and ridges of a mountain range further into residential areas about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northeast of dowtown Los Angeles.

"It's been a very bad day indeed," said Robin Renteria, fire information officer for San Bernardino National Forest, where the blaze is raging.

"The fire has spread dramatically because the winds have been driving it hard and were also strong enough to prevent us from flying firefighting aircraft, allowing it to spread further."

The blaze was so intense that it sent a thick haze of smoke over Los Angeles which lies miles away.

The fire was only 23 percent contained as 2,200 firefighters battled to control it, up from 1,400 fighting the flames a day earlier.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/54112/1/.html