I've seen fire, and I've seen (snow)....but not much rain (yet...)

(All photos courtesy of Los Angeles Times)

Proving again that life in Southern California is not boring, we've gone from having snow flurries, hailstorms and sub-freezing overnight temperatures LAST week, to having warm Santa Ana winds blowing TODAY that pushed the temperatures on the official TartanGolfGrips.com Acura (more on that in a later posting) temperature gauge to 74 blissful degrees at lunchtime...

However, with that temperature and the winds comes an unfortunate downside - fire.

Tonight's adventure was too close to home, literally, as this was approximately two offramps down the Ventura Freeway from the TartanGolfGrips.com creative compound.
The fire broke out about 4:30 PM, and was fanned by winds that were gusting to about 20 mph. Fortunately, as the sun went down, so did the winds, which allowed the firefighters to maintain their aerial assault well past nightfall.

The prevailing winds at the time that the fire broke out briefly raised speculation that the residents near Sherwood Country Club and the Lake Sherwood area might be affected, but that area is about four miles to the south of the blaze, and the flames were contained as the winds died down.

BIG-TIME KUDOS go to the studs (and studettes) that fly Heli-Tac air operations for the various local fire agencies...on my way home from work, I headed up to the upper parking lot at Westlake High School, and had front-row seats to the airstrikes taking place from two helicopters. Their precision carpet-bombing of flames reaching over 30 feet into the air amidst dense smoke and tricky up and downdrafts was spectacular to behold, and if I ever am fortunate enough to meet one of you in person, I will PERSONALLY buy you a beer, or beverage of your choice! This shot was taken tonight and is NOT stock footage!

The latest report is that the fire is currently contained, but the fire officials are concerned about the winds that are supposed to increase again in the morning.

Snark sighting here...



Epilogue: Following Mr. Humphrey's post at MY site, I checked out the LAFD blog (VERY cool site, by the way...I am proud to add it to MY blogroll of fame) and saw HIS POST on this event. That mutual aid agreement has saved COUNTLESS properties, and probably LIVES, too...I remember when the firestorms were burning into Oak Park in Sep./Oct. '05, I was AMAZED at the distances that the firefighters had come to protect the homes of my neighbors, and the OUTPOURING of community support and gratitude for their talent, energy and efforts.