Local Fires 2
As of this moment it doesn’t look like the Santiago Canyon fire will be contained anytime soon.
I’ve been updating the map in the other blog posting as I get new info. I’ll update again in a couple hours – that’s assuming power is still available. The winds have been gusting in the fire areas up to around 100 MPH and when it takes out power lines, some areas go dark. The neighborhood here hasn’t been hit with a general power outtage yet but the network connection did flicker for a while.
We’re very lucky. You’ll see from the map that this area just southwest of the fire is a very populated area and this neighborhood was on the edge until the wind shifted toward more vegetation.
I hope the info from various news media and agencies is right about where the fire has been and where it’s going. I apologize if we look later and find it wasn’t as close as what I’ve been led to believe. As you can see it’s confusing because news is slow and even though it’s close we don’t know exactly where it was or is unless we hop in the car and go looking. While I’m sure some people are doing that I’d rather not.
I won’t count my lucky chickens yet. The south end of the fire is cutting through some forested area that we (used to) hike through. That’s still only about 2 miles from here. The good news is that fires are usually slowed by roads, and except for Santiago Canyon this fire actually has been mostly bound by road boundaries. So chances are slim that it will work its way into the heavily populated areas. The bad news is that with winds as they are, and seeing how the other fires in southern California are still mostly uncontained, it’s not a stretch to imagine sparks flying for this fire to continue wherever the heck "Mother Nature" wants it to go.
On a more personal note: I think anyone who doesn’t believe that global warming is occuring is an idiot. And for anyone who doesn’t see that humanity is at least "somewhat" responsible for global warming, well, they’re at least "somewhat" responsible for being an idiot.