My thoughts are with all the Southern California fire victims. I am intimately familiar with the Santa Ana winds and the damage that they can do. Talking to mom the other day, we talked about that specific smell that is the Southern California combination of Santa Ana winds and fire. Even if I never smell it again, it's something I will remember all my life.
When I was young, we lived in Lake Arrowhead during a large fire and waited at an evacuation center to find out the fate of our home (it was spared). I was at Pepperdine during the 1993 fire, and spent two days in the gym while everything around the campus burned.
When the winds pickup in Southern California, my thoughts always turn to fire, and I am sure that I'm not alone in that.
A few have asked about my family and friends. Everyone is safe, and no one is in the affected areas, thank God.
NPR played a very interesting piece this morning explaining the Santa Ana winds, saying that this week's winds are beyond anything measured in history. They are the equivalent of a Category II hurricane.
This fire's magnitude is beyond anything that I can imagine, and I only hope that the Santa Ana winds die down quickly.
