DDD fiddles while OC burns

[TripletDaddy]

Has anyone been following the SoCal fires at all?

The Irvine (OC/South County) fire was about 6 blocks from our home. The cops came to our pad last night at about 10PM and told us to prepare for a voluntary evacuation. Some families in our ward were evacuated. The stake center became a temp evacuation shelter. Those families have since returned to their homes, but it was a long night.

I spent a large chunk of time going the few blocks to get visual confirmation that the fire was being pushed back. The ash was pretty thick and immediately was landing in my eyes. We live about 2 blocks from the grocery store center for our neighborhood. it became a locals gathering place for looky-loos and people who wanted to snap pics. The smoke and ash were so thick that Home Depot was handing out particle masks for anyone and everyone who wanted them. The scene in the parking lot looked like a SARS convention.

We were not evacuated, but were told to be prepared to get out. We spent a few hours last night getting together essentials under the assumption that we would lose everything. It was a crappy night. But interestingly, in times of duress, we are able to see pretty clearly what is important and what is not in our lives. We went from room to room fairly quickly. The recurring theme of things we wanted to "save" was always photos/videos, documents/paperwork, and heirloom type stuff. To be practical, we were going to toss all our clothes and some toys in the car. Beyond that, you lose a couch or a bed....oh well. I must admit that I busted out the plasma tv guidebook to see how quickly I could take them off the wall. ha!

Now this morning, the fire nearest our home is fully contained so we are safe, but Portola Canyon and Santiago Canyon are still ablaze. Irvine looks like Mordor right now. Thick smoke everywhere and everything smells. The inside of our home has been sacrificed to the smoke gods. It is pretty annoying.

This morning the cops said that the cause was arson. the fire was started in 3 specific areas, not just one, so the intent was to do some major damage. Hopefully, that person is caught and tossed into a cell for a little while.

Crazy thing is, the Irvine fire is only one of about 7-10 other fires going on right now down here.

Ironically, this weekend was amazing for surf. there was a nice swell that came in and the beaches were largely empty. DDD....always looking to make some lemonade....