The absence of presence of posts on this here blog of mine has been due to the fact that the raging fires in Los Angeles have literally engulfed my life. I woke up both Friday and Saturday in the wee hours of the morning because the horrid smell of smoke had managed to penetrate throughout my entire house. From 4 a.m onwards, I couldn’t go back to sleep, a phenomenon confirmed by my neighbor who also woke up at the same time.
It wasn’t until another neighbor across the street came to knock on our door early Saturday afternoon that I realized the capacity of these fires, especially when all I had to do was walk out to my driveway and see this:
Oh my God. Fire behind my house.
Stay calm. Stay calm.
A quick browsing of all local news channels revealed nothing, everyone was preoccupied with the funeral of Ted Kennedy, which was fine – the man deserves it, but suddenly hours started going by and houses were severely threatened by this fire raging literally in my backyard and beyond and no single channel was on it. So I turned to what I usually turn to in situations where I need information fast: print and online. The Los Angeles Times, LAist and the various Twitter accounts of fire departments and city officials came to the rescue. Broadcast journalism got a big fat FAIL.
Then a journalistic instinct hit me pretty hard. I barely had time to grab everything I needed and head out the door. I decided I was going to go firechasing. It didn’t matter that I had to be ready in an hour for an event I was covering, I had to go. I drove around La Crescenta for about 45 minutes, going up to areas near Briggs Avenue that hadn’t been sealed off yet.
I saw deer and coyote escaping the fire, and more people on the streets of Los Angeles than I had ever seen before – some with cameras, others with their pets, all watching in awe as the mountains violently burned in the visible distance. Near an area closer to the fire, residents hosed down their roofs while police directed traffic.
The air was thick with plumes of gray smoke – ashes strewn on every which way you can imagine.
It got out of control enough that a few of my relatives were evacuated and came to spend some time with us. I decided I wasn’t taking any chances and packed up a few bags just in case. On my drive to Burbank later that night, the fires were glowing, completely out of place in the night sky.
On Sunday the fire had pretty much doubled in size and as I write this (Monday, August 31, 2009), the fire has doubled again from Sunday, having destroyed around 87,500 acres.
Twitter Follows For Fire:
Maps and Visuals
Station Fire Updates from City of Glendale
News and More
More later!
