Los Angeles on Fire – a Personal Note
If you’ve been watching the news, or are even semi-conscious, you probably know high winds and a series of fires swept through Los Angeles County recently. I heard we even hit the news in Sweden!
Two of the largest ones, the Palisades Fire, burned Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and parts of Brentwood, all located north of Los Angeles.
The Eaton Fire burned Altadena, south of Pasadena. Most of the people in these communities are middle-class families who bought houses years ago and saw them skyrocket in value. At the time of this writing, firefighters are still battling both fires.
To say this puts people on edge is an understatement! We kept an eye on the Hurst Fire, the nearest one to us. Did we pray and ask all our friends to pray - YES!! Thankfully, the Lord was gracious and we are fine. That was not the outcome for many families in the area. They lost everything and are happy to just be alive. Many have said they will not return or even remain in California.
What's it like to be in one of these fires?
The sky turns yellow, then orange, then black as the fire approaches, and dense smoke blots out the Sun. Ash swirls about, small at first, and later so much that it looks like it’s snowing. Fire creates its own wind, sending sparks rushing everywhere. That’s what makes these fires so dangerous and difficult to extinguish—all the little, spot fires that start from embers blown ahead of the main one.
Police may or may not drive through your neighborhood with loud-speakers telling everyone to, “Evacuate now! Evacuate now!”
When you get an evacuation order, either from the police, or more likely from an app on your phone, you have a decision to make.
Go, and drive off with whatever precious items fit in the car. If you were smart you had a “go” bag packed with underwear, a toothbrush, important papers, etc.
Stay, and you must have a clear route out. That’s usually down some narrow, winding, one-way road in these areas. In the Palisades Fire, this wasn’t the first time people abandoned their cars and hoofed it. You also want to leave before you block the fire trucks driving into your neighborhood.
So, back to our homestead. We’re keeping an eye on the Hurst Fire, the closest one to us, when my husband’s sister texts us. She’s out of the country and the app on her phone says she needs to evacuate now due to the Palisades Fire. Can her house-sitter, the house-sitter’s dog, and her SIX cats come stay with us, if the fire gets any closer?
We said yes, although we weren’t sure how our sixteen-year fur baby with a ‘tude, would take to her new roomies. We monitored the sister’s place on the apps: “Watch Duty,” “Genasys” and “PulsePoint,” and texted her updates, the last one at 2am her time. Yes, she was still up, and thankfully, the fire-line held at Mullholand, the ridge above LA, and the sister’s place was fine.
That brings us to the neighbors. They went skiing and we were on call to feed their two dogs, one cat and eight chickens. They had animal carriers out for the dogs and cat. The chickens? We could release them, and the coyotes and local bobcat could feast. Or leave the birds caged, and the neighbors could have barbequed chicken on their return. Luckily, we never had to decide what to do about the chickens and they are all happily still clucking away.
DONATIONS
I’m familiar with the Palisades since I used to go to church at Calvary Chapel there when I was single. Two churches there are working together, helping residents who lost everything. One is my old church, Calvary Chapel, and the other is Malibu Gathering.
Here’s the link for them: https://malibugathering.org if you’d like to donate to the victims of the Palisades Fire.
Thank you for your observations and insights Cindy. So thankful that Calvary Church of Pacific Palisades was mostly spared. Praying for California and L.A.