Frank Zappa and the Mothers had the best place around...

[serai]

.

First concrete sighting: Driving up the freeway to Pasadena (east of L.A.), saw the orange-brown haze of smoke pouring through the gap between the San Gabriel and Santa Monica Mountains. That was impressive. The sunlight is just starting to take on that lowering tinge that eventually becomes an angry frown in the air.

Haven't seen any ash yet, but I hear it's falling farther south, and we'll get some here if the Malibu fires get worse. There'll be a lot of green growth in the spring, if we get the rain to nourish it. Fire is bad for humans, but it's quite good for the earth.

Comments

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

It must look like the end of the world...

[serai1.livejournal.com]

What? Oh no, no no. The air looks a little weird, but we've seen that before. It was much worse some years ago when practically all of the Malibu forest burned down. That time the air was positively brown, raining ashes, for quite a ways inland. We're not smelling smoke yet. Because of the hills I can only see the horizon to the west, and it's hazed up but not anywhere near hellish...yet. We'll see how it looks tomorrow morning.

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

Hee. I was picturing something sort of "Mordorish". I sure hope it improves for everyone out there!

[belleferret.livejournal.com]

Beautiful and natural and terrifying.

Too many members of my flist are too close to the fires.
:-(

[serai1.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's bad further south. I was a bit irked to hear over the radio that a lot of the effort that should have gone to containing the fires earlier went to evacuating people who had refused to leave when instructed to do so. If the San Diego County Fire Marshall is telling you to leave, get the fuck out.

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

That's the horrible dichotomy of So Cal (and other places like it) - left unpopulated and natural, areas like that would have regular small fires to clear out undergrowth, etc.

[serai1.livejournal.com]

Not so much an aspect of So Cal as it is an aspect of our asshattery when dealing with nature. If firing the landscape were part of our management of resources, this shit wouldn't happen. But no, we can't be sensible or anything.

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

*nod* Hubby's got a cousin who's a natl' forestry firefighter, who's talked to us so many times about this. It's really complicated, because so much of the ddevelopment in high risk areas happened before we didn't KNOW aobut it - but that doesn't excuse current development

[strangerian.livejournal.com]

Ash has also been falling to the north of L.A. The sky in Santa Barbara was a big brown cloud on Saturday, that will probably last through Tuesday. This (I'm told) is mainly ash from the recent Zaca fire blowing in the wind, which is better than active fire, at least. But it *smells* like fire, so my hindbrain isn't happy. The real thing must be a lot worse.