It seems like every year there are several fires in California. Luckily my parents' home has always been a safe distance away from them. Living hundreds of miles away from my parents, I didn't realize how close the fires were this time to their home until I received an email from my mom on Saturday. Here is part of what she had to say:
"Today has been an unusual and interesting day. Brent has been painting some walls in the house, so this morning I opened windows to air out the house. Awhile later I realized the air in my house smelled like smoke, not paint. There had been a wildfire burning northwest of us near Los Angeles, so I marveled that the smoke from that fire had blown this far. I closed the windows, despite the odor of the paint. Later as Lindsay and I sat at the table in the family room, we noticed fire smoke southeast of our house. Newscasts informed us the fire we were seeing smoke from was in Corona (where the I-15 and the I-91 meet) with a few houses in Yorba Linda involved. Later we learned there was also a fire north of Brea mall (near the 57), so smoke was coming at us from both directions.
Late in the morning it became eerily dark outside, and the sunlight we did see had an eerie yellow cast. The sun was a bright red; and when the sunlight shown on the wall or the floor, it left a pinkish cast. We all kept commenting on how it felt like evening because it was so dark. When I came home from the grocery store at about 1:00, there was ash falling in my yard.
About 2:30 I received a couple of calls asking if we could house some people from our stake who may need to evacuate due to the fire. We counted our air beds, sofas and extra mattresses and told them evacuees would be welcome at our home.
At dinner time one of Preston’s friends came over with his gear packed for the night “just in case”. His family was prepared to evacuate. He came to our house where the smoke would not be so heavy but was prepared to spend the night if necessary. Homeowners within a minute’s walk from his home had been evacuated.
After dinner Lindsay went to visit a friend at work. While she was there, the police came in and told them to evacuate. Her friend’s workplace is only a mile and a half from our home on Yorba Linda Blvd. and Lakeview. Her friend Sarah, who also lives just a little north of Yorba Linda Blvd. was also evacuated.
Meanwhile, Lindsay was also hearing from friends living the other direction from us (northwest), who were also being evacuated due to the fire in Brea. It feels as if the fire is closing in from us on both directions. Actually, I think the fires have both met each other in Chino Hills National Park in the hills north of Yorba Linda Blvd.
Just a little while ago (about 9:30) we went out into the street and looked to the north. We could see some of the fire in Chino Hills. The moon was orange.
So in a little while I will be going to bed, wondering what will happen during the night. There’s still smoke in the air, my eyes burn, and my throat hurts. I think they have the fire contained enough that it won’t be a danger to us. Hope I’m right."
On Wednesday, my dad also sent me an email in reference to the fires. Here is a video of his boss' backyard, taken by the neighbor. Luckily the only damage was to the palm trees in the backyard.
