Wildfire in Anaheim Hills
 

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?se...cal&id=3880221

It's raining ash here in east Garden Grove and the air quality is awful. We've got the kids inside like it's a rainy day. The kids that I've heard moving from class to class are coughing up a storm.

Good thing I have my scarf with me...

Yeah, I saw that story and wondered how it was affecting you. No fun.

YUCK. Remember that day when we were looking for a place to eat in Irvine and the smoke and ash made the world an unreal place.

That was a surreal day. Maybe it was just the lack of sleep.

Dont' blame it on lack of sleep - I remember well the ash fall of the big fires in '04. It was freaky - nighttime during the day.

Terrible, glad you have a scarf, too!
Take care!
Donna

This morning I drove through a thick bank of fog around John Wayne aiport. It seemed to me at the time that this fog was just a little bit too brown (even by SoCal standars). I have a feeling it was smoke-infused, especially since when I just went out for lunch, I could smell the fire all the way down here in Costa Mesa. I also had a pretty good view of one edge of the fire making its way up a hill.

CP called and said as she headed out for lunch, she spied at leadt 10 LA County fire engines (plus several other LA County support vehicles) headed down the freeway.

Not that my problem supercedes the issues (smoke, possible loss of property or worse: life, etc.) the fire really FUBAR'd my drive in this morning. And when I went out to lunch today, the smoke was thick here in Tustin.

I don't think I will be taking my usual route home tonight: the 55 north to the 91.

Here in Long Beach my car was covered it ash and the smell of smoke in the air is almost overwhelming. My contacts are bothering me and it isn't helping my already challenged respitory abilities.

This fire is pretty crazy. It's all ashy out and dark. The weather is just as weird, it's hot out!

How is it going this morning? Any changes? I heard a particular subdivision was being evacuated - some 1500 homes. Scary.

the homes under mandatory evacuation orders are about 2 miles southeast of my home. the winds have calmed down (great news) and last hour authorities were going to re-evaluate evac needs.

it was tough going to sleep last night with flames clearly visible from the top of the ridge.

the air attack is well under way this morning and i am feeling much better about the situation. granted, a major freeway and a few miles stand between the fire and here...but, i can certainly remember the horror of how quickly a wild fire can march several miles and consume everything in its path (laguna and malibu as examples).

so, other than my house smelling like a campfire and ash everywhere, all is well.

God bless the firefighters!

Not even the smell of a fire this morning. In GG, that is.

In Orange there have been evacuations, school closures, etc, as you can see in today's story. I heard that the City of Orange's website crashed because there were so many people checking updates to see whether they should evac. Thankfully I won't be too close to things when I head up to Orange this afternoon. I'm nowhere near the evacuations so far.

I work in Anaheim Hills. I didn't think the smoke was too bad yesterday where I was, but I'm feeling the effects of it today! (cough, cough)

It seems the winds are following a regular patern as once again I could smell the smoke when I left for lunch (gone by the time I got back). This time, there were some light ash flurries in the air as well.

i went to run some errands and the fire seemed like it was somewhat calming down...mostly grey-white smoke which is always a good sign...

went into the bank, post office and grocery store. spent a good deal of time in the grocery store (mostly socializing with an old friend)... and when i came outdoors, the fire had taken a turn for the worse...the winds had picked up and shifted...my way. things looked dire. more dark, black smoke and signs of new fuel found. the sun is veiled with murky orange clouds and smoke is now headed this way.

now, it seems the winds have died down again.

finally got home, put away groceries and turned on the news...

they say the evacuation order has been lifted at 4pm, but schools and the toll road will remain closed tomorrow.

so i am confused. it looks worse to me, but, reports seem to indicate otherwise. it is very warm outside and humidity in the single digits. i think the biggest problem is the predition that the winds will pick up again tonight...and the air assault will end until morning.

i'm not at all worried about my neighborhood, as the fire is a long way away...but, i do worry about the homes across the freeway if the winds pick up again tonight.

Whoa driving home there's this smoke cloud that reminds me of that scene in the 10 Commandments - thankfully I'm the third born in my family.

I'd suggest lamb chops for dinner, just to be safe.

Extra rare.

You must spread some Mojo around before giving it to €uroMeinke again.

Yummmmmmmmy Lamb!

I both love and despise the thick stream of black/orange/dirt cloud that has descended over my city. As I was walking a dog today, there was a tall tree, barren except for spiky seed pods, with a backdrop of half rich blue sky and half icky smoke cloud. I wished I had a camera with me. Eerily beautiful.

So as I drove home, it became apparant the the fire has wended its way strikingly close to home. Not that we're in any danger, with a couple miles between us and the hills, plus at least one significant ridge. And the prevailing winds are blowing that pillar of smoke in the opposite direction, so I can't even smell anything. Still kinda eerie to see it that close.

Like GD said earlier, the winds did the same boogie today and we ended up with raining ash etc. Definitely wasn't as bad as yesterday though.

According to the news on the way home this evening, the fire is currently 10% contained and the battle is basically looking good.

The 241 is scheduled to open tomorrow, but no time was given. I doubt it will be in time to make my morning commute any less painful than this morning.

Well, it seems like they've got it under control in the last few hours. Where I saw a large pillar of ominous black smoke on the way home, now there's just a faint glow and a whisp of gray haze.

firefighters claim own responsibility for the origin of this one.... from backfires they were intentionally setting a few days ago.

just got home and bright orange flames are clearly visible atop the ridge.

25-35 mph sustained winds with 50mph gusts predicted after midnight into the morning.