Again and again

The wildfires in California are devastating. Again. As I read the names of the towns affected I’m reminded of the many trips we’ve made to that area. We’ve had great apple pie in Julian and shopped for a woodstove in Ramona. And it’s only been 4? years since the last fires in this region. And it’s hard to grasp that half a million people are displaced.

I think everyone who has ever lived in Southern California has memories of fires; large and small. It’s all part of the SoCal experience. And what most, who live elsewhere don’t know, is the speed of these fires. It’s unbelievable! I was working on the building of the California College of the Arts, out in Saugus (now Canyon Country) when we saw a small plume of smoke coming from Sand Canyon. Within 30 minutes, the fire had moved 3 or 4 miles and was crossing I-5. We left the job just as the CHP was preparing to close the freeway. I was heading home to Ventura County and the fire was racing me there, cutting across the backside of the San Fernando Valley, through Northridge, Chatsworth and Canoga Park. They closed that freeway, the 101, just minutes after I passed. The fire had moved close to 30 miles in less than an hour. And once home, the smoke was gathering ominously over the hills behind our house. I spent the evening up on the shake roof with a hose in my hand.

Blessed. The fire turned and went to the ocean. Through Malibu, as usual. And a few years later, when we were moving, we found pale squares among the ashes when we removed the stored boxes in our attic space.