Four years ago this week, our home burned to the ground.We weren't in it; in fact, we had just sold it to a wonderful young couple expecting their first baby. But we hadn't been gone long, so it felt very personal. All our beautiful hibiscus bushes, my treasured stainless steel Viking range, the red flowered wallpaper, the backyard where we celebrated our daughter's first birthday. It was all ash.
Making it even worse, it wasn't just our house. Our entire neighborhood went up in flames (that's our street in the picture to the left), a casualty of the Cedar Fire that was the worst fire in California history.
Until today.
Fall is fire season for Southern California. It's both expected and dreaded, the same way tornadoes are expected and dreaded in the Midwest in the spring. But the fire burning out of control today in San Diego is a monster. More than 250,000 people have been evacuated. Winds are whipping along at 45+ miles per hour. The landscape is incredibly dry. The fire is zero percent contained.
And it's expected to get much worse before it gets better. Said Sheriff Bill Kolender: "This fire will probably be the worst this county has ever seen -- worse than the Cedar fire [of 2003]."
Unbelievable.
Of course, I'm going to be glued to the Internet today, watching the live stream from my old station.
More later, I'm sure.
