Stay safe, everyone!
[nitpick]August August August August August August August August August August [/nitpick]
My best friend had to go help evacuate his aunt’s house at 2am. I guess some cousins decided to swing by their parents’ house to check on them, and it turned out the area was to be evacuated, so they called my best friend and his family with a “you’ve gotta come here and help us pack stuff up - now.” Today, they can’t get anywhere near the place so he has no idea if his aunt’s place is still standing. Luckily those cousins swung by, because I guess the aunt is down in orange county right now, she could have lost everything (if her place burns, which we don’t know)
We’re getting updates on CNN regularly in Texas (I’m watching one now). If Foxnews is correct, there are 10 wildfires, most of which are under investigation. I did hear that one was suspected to be arson; and that the trees have been weakened by the bugs and will go up in a flash…this was news to me.
Pulling for y’all here - keep safe!
The TV stations around here have been running fire coverage nonstop, practically. (San Gabriel Valley)
I wear a mask when I have to go outside, then come inside and choke and tear up for a while until things settle down. But I’m very fortunate not to be in the path of the inferno. Some of my colleagues have not been so lucky. 
Eve and Dizzy: Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry…
I hope that when they find those fools who started Grand Prix and Old the judge sentances them to spend a few days in a locked room with the families in San Bernadino that no longer have homes to go back to.
I’m so sorry for your misfortune. People have been telling me for years to move to CA. Why, I ask? Surely, this is a another great reason not to.
I hope everyone is safe.
- PW
Looks like it was caused by a graduate of the Zenster school of wilderness survival
:wally
Fire + forrest = bad idea
Flare + forrest = World class bad idea
Yeah, you don’t want those slow kids playing with matches, no matter how fast they can run. Especially in a forest 
Down here in the South Bay, I’ve been hearing about nothing but the fires. Not that I’m not concerned for my fellow Angelinos, but I do want to hear about other news as well from time to time.
Hope everyone’s okay, and things get back to normal soon (after we wash all the ash off everything, natch ).
I’d wish for SoCal to have rain, but for mudslides. Your disasters make tropical depressions or storms in an already humid, flat, and well-drained place seem pretty fun really: kite flying weather, lots of rain but little lightning, cool.
When we had draught fires (and one HUGE firestorm in Flagler County, among others) back in the late 1990s I kept wondering which post-apocalyptic wasteland Florida most looked like. We had desert plants beginning to grow on what used to be lakebeds. The smoke was everywhere. Sometimes it was like thick fog for hours or days.
In the long run it helped clean and replenish some lake bottoms, cleaned out the over-undergrowth in some forests, but wiped out a few others. The forests have recovered rapidly as the water levels have come back up. Read: rain and lots of it since then.
** San Diego, looks like you might be facing a firestorm. ** The latest I’ve seen is that the fires are merging and they are pulling firemen off the line. That usually means a firestorm. Don’t mess around with those. That’s one mistake territory. Stay tuned to useful news and be ready to evacuate 24-7.