The wildfires aren’t getting better in Southern California; in fact, they’re getting worse. What started out as one fire up in Santa Barbara County yesterday, has turned, today, into four fires up and down the Southern California Coast. Check out this photograph; I took it at 4:30 PM on my street.
- Fiery Sunset at 4:30 over the Pacific Ocean (Jennifer Miner)
What you see is the blood-red sun reflecting in the ocean. The view is north, up towards Santa Barbara. This is around 75 miles north of my street. Northeast of us, a fire rages in Sylmar. South of us is Palos Verdes, a very tony town that is also on fire. Corona, in Riverside County, is also seeing a wildfire in which around 10 homes are at least damaged, and two firefighters were slightly injured when their truck caught on fire. Much of the blame is with an extremely dry November, with the dry heat of the Santa Ana winds feeding the flames. Where I live, Pacific Palisades, saw bright blue skies all morning and then – in what seemed a blink of the eye – smoke and darkness overtook the horizon.
It’s a strange, frightening time to be in Los Angeles County. Firefighters from across the state are here, working as hard as they can to at least contain these fires. People are worried, and the causes of the fires are still under investigation. Anyone who is thinking of taking a trip to Los Angeles for work or pleasure, should be advised; freeways may be closed, and there’s quite a lot of anxiety in the air.
