A few years ago I was on a business trip out in Montebello, a suburb near East L.A. While I was there they had one of these fires in the hills to the west. It might have been San Bernadino, which was 50 miles away. Intellectually, I knew the fire was so far away that there was no chance it would come close. Looking at the entire eastern horizon on fire, though, I felt like it was close enough to roast marshmallows.

I bet he has marshmallows, hersheys and graham crackers at the ready....

good luck, dude

If we get the evac order, we are gone.

There are no things that are more important than me being around to raise my kids. I honestly don't understand the people who stay, at all. Idiocy, and false heroics. It's dangerous, and worse, it causes other people (firefighters and parademics) to risk their own lives 12 hours later to come get you when you're trapped in your own burning yard.

There was a half-dozen people who ignored the evac order in Acton (north of the fires), and they put a whole fire crew at risk trying to pull them out of harms way.

Here's the updated map of the fire path. We live in Monrovia, and the southeast corner of the fire is about 10 miles from us.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...0&source=embed

View from space.

Very strange conversation with my wife tonight - deciding which things we should take with us if we have to evac.

Have you ever thought about it? In some ways, it's easier if you only have 5 minutes to grab and go. When you have 12+ hours, there's this odd sense that you have to get it exactly right, that there is some perfect list out there, and you have enough time that you ought to figure it out.

So long as that list begins:
1) wife
2) kids
3) self
4) single malt scotch

everything else falls into line, right? Sorry, I make completely inappropriate jokes when confronted with stressful thoughts. You and yours are in my prayers SM.

Smooth, I hope you guys stay safe!

The fires in LA are giving us hazy sunsets in my town.

pets!

no pets for us.

I had a conversation like this when watching floodwaters rise towards my bro's house. Take the irreplaceable stuff however financially valueless - everything of sentimental value rather than expensive things that'd be replaced by the insurance anyways. IMHO.

Hurricane Jimena is headed your way. It should put out the fires, but it'll bring its own problems. Man, you have fires, huricanes, earthquakes, smog, and riots.:thepain: Ever consider moving?

Posted in upsetting thread that family members of mine in three different homes have been told to evacuate - two refused - one stayed because he has a pumper truck and is protecting horses that the owners haven't been able to get out. my childhood home is two blocks south of the evac zone - my mom hasn't left the house except to volunteer at one of the animal evac shelters. I am so sad and scared and it sucks that I can't be there to lend a hand to my family.

Assuming you have 12 hours advance notice:

Box up the filing cabinet and save those records. All photo albums and negatives. Family videotapes. The external hard drive with all the digital pictures. Kids' artwork. The address book. Wall calendar. Sentimental value items that are easy to carry. High value items that are small and easy to carry. Clothes, and toiletries.

Then walk around with the digital camera and take pictures of the crap left behind for insurance purposes.

I'd be very torn when it comes to my work shop. I'd probably fill a couple boxes with heavy hand tools. Leave the big stuff to burn. We have a small car though, so most of the tools would burn. :sniff:

I'm probably missing some important stuff there.

Take the pictures first.;)

At one point in my life, even though there was no emergency, I took pictures of all my valuables, and noted all the serial numbers on my electronics. It's really hard to keep up with all the things you aquire and discard. And I got lazy.

We just moved, and make an insurance video when we did, so that's pretty recent.

It looks like the fire is slowing down, and moving parallel to us rather than toward us. Back down to DEFCON 3.