Fires!

There are so many fires in So. Cal. There are fires everywhere. I have a few friends who have homes close to the Yorba Linda fire and the Chino Hills fire. They are safe right now and their home is safe so far. I hope it stays that way.

This all hits very close to home for me. In 2003, a fire was very, very close to my home and my mother-in-law's home. We were fortunate but the fires were extremely close. We were under mandatory evacuation. It was a frightening experience so I understand what many of these people are feeling. We decided to stay but I had the car packed and I was ready to grab Chase Monster and Su-Su (my orange tabby who is no longer with us) and go. Mr. Bear stayed up the street at his mom's house putting out spot fires; her home was much closer to the fire and if it got anywhere near her home, he would have to come down to my house in order to get out, so we had a plan. If I felt the need I could have left. It really made a difference to stay and put out spot fires; the embers would fly onto the property and putting those out helped to prevent the loss of their home. Several neighbors' homes were lost and the firefighters were busy and could not put out individual home fires. The fires were so close, you could see it. The next day it looked like a war zone, with ashes all over the ground and the streets so empty. It was very eerie and took some time to clean up.

I hope everyone is safe and I wish strength to all our brave firefighters who are all working so hard. I hope the weather cooperates and containment happens very soon. My thoughts and prayers are with all the people who are effected by the fires today.

* Note: I do not advocate that people stay when there is a mandatory evacuation. It was a personal, family decision we made with the knowledge of where the fires were and the risks. We were far enough from the fire yet knew that the winds could bring the fire closer to us with embers flying in the air.