Damnit! We're on Fire Again!

[3113]

There's going to be a check on fireworks in a lot of California areas. It's just too dangerous. And the fires raging now are sadly burning up some of the most beautiful areas, though, fortunately so far, not homes.

Fast-moving flames early Friday burned the steep mountainsides a mile from homes on the northern edge of Goleta, California, near Santa Barbara. Mandatory evacuations ordered Thursday morning for mountain home communities outside Goleta were widened Thursday night as winds kicked up after sundown, making it tougher to fight the fire, a state fire spokesman said.

Farther north up the California coast, 1,400 residents of Big Sur were ordered to leave their homes because of the Basin Complex Fire, which has burned about 65,000 acres of the Los Padres National Forest in the last two weeks. At least 20 homes have been destroyed.....In three days, the Gap Fire has charred 3,000 acres, a fraction of the half-million acres burned by more than 1,700 California wildfires sparked by lightning in the past two weeks. All but about 100 of the fires are considered contained, but 20,000 federal, state and local firefighters are struggling to prevent major blazes from spreading into residential areas.

Winds are currently whipping up the Santa Barbara area and making it hard for firefighters. Here's hoping these can be contained and we don't get anything like before. Alas, we're so dry that we can only hold our breath for the rest of the summer and autumn. Fires we expect at such times, but conditions during the rest of the year have made them more deadly and likely.

 

[cloudy]

There's going to be a check on fireworks in a lot of California areas. It's just too dangerous. And the fires raging now are sadly burning up some of the most beautiful areas, though, fortunately so far, not homes.

Winds are currently whipping up the Santa Barbara area and making it hard for firefighters. Here's hoping these can be contained and we don't get anything like before. Alas, we're so dry that we can only hold our breath for the rest of the summer and autumn. Fires we expect at such times, but conditions during the rest of the year have made them more deadly and likely.

My hometown, this time.

 

[rgraham666]

Here's hoping all our California members stay safe.

 

[Guest]

Oh, damn.

Are you in any immediate danger?

 

[3113]

Are you in any immediate danger?

Not yet (knock wood).

 

[impressive]

Stay safe.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Stay safe.

Welcome to California, land of five seasons: wet, dry, flood, quake and fire.

Lit's SoCal contingent live in the suburbs well away from the forested and brushy areas that are actually in danger of burning. Our local native vegetation evolved with regular fires. Some species even have to be burned to germinate their seeds. Unfortunately, such evolution is not the case with people . . .

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

If there's a down side to California burning to the ground, America cant imagine what it is. The 4th of July just seasons the event to America's taste!

 

[Guest]

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b318/sweetsubsarahh/Monkeys/2002_poo_fling_monkey.jpg

 

[R. Richard]

I lived in California for a time. I can well remember the brush fires. There are a lot of mountains in California, and the brush fires can threaten anything near the mountains. I can only hope that no one from Literotica is damaged by the fires.

 

[jomar]

Yes, stay safe.

 

[Guest]

Updates, please?

This was the headline I saw this morning.

Fires on Second Front Force Californians Out

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Updates, please?

This was the headline I saw this morning.

Fires on Second Front Force Californians Out

Like most of the problems involved in fighting California wildfires, we're trying to hold on until the weather shifts. What's hurting the efforts at last report was the erratic winds. Until there is a significant influx of moist, marine air things are still very iffy. But, as I stated earlier, the SoCal Lit contingent is well south of the danger area.

 

[3113]

Update...

July 5 -- California wildfires have scorched 521,000 acres (208,400 hectares) as cooler, coastal air and humidity moved into some areas, prompting hope among firefighters that the shift will help tamp down blazes. The marine layer, which moved into the Big Sur region yesterday, is a switch from the low humidity, strong winds and high temperatures that prompted authorities to warn of ``extreme fire activity.'' Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered 200 more National Guard troops to join firefighters in their battle....The soldiers will double the number of Guard troops assisting in the effort to 400. They will report to a training center at the McClellan Air Park early next week. About 20,000 people have been fighting the fires.

Multiple California cities and towns imposed bans on July 4 holiday fireworks on concern over more blazes. The state has declared emergencies in 11 counties, spanning Shasta and Trinity counties in northern California to Monterey in the central part and Santa Barbara County in the south, where fires are burning in the Los Padres National Forest....In Santa Barbara County, residents yesterday were ordered to evacuate their homes as a fast-spreading fire became the state's top priority. While California doesn't have a law requiring residents to evacuate, some 1,700 homeowners were told to leave.

Overnight winds fanned the so-called Gap fire in the Los Padres National Forest, threatening homes in Goleta, a coastal city northwest of Santa Barbara, and surrounding areas. The city of Santa Barbara is about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Los Angeles.

The blaze, one of more than 1,780 burning statewide, is consuming about 6,000 acres (2,400 hectares), an increase compared with 3,000 acres the day before, said William Boyer a spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Executive Office.

Here's hoping they make headway today.