California Fires

[Texas Ranger]

A first hand report from a relative in California.

Things are getting better here.  Yesterday the wind was blowing from the ocean and we saw the sun and nice white cumulus clouds.  The wind carried some humidity and we had spots of some drizzles-not much though.  the temperature has dropped.  The air is clearer and easier to breathe.  Last
light when I returned home I could see the clouds and the breaks between them-a more normal appearance.  This morning we have some fog and scattered clouds-a more natural appearance.  Of course the winds coming from the
ocean help.  Now we need rain to clean the air and maybe we can then wash  the car.  The wind blowing up to Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear gets some conflicting reports-every channel and every announcer seems to have different stats.  The give us 10-15% fire containment at Lake Arrowhead
which has all the dead trees from the beetle-how many ways can you spell this word- still has the biggest potential of a forest fire with the hot pots they have.  This is what I can cull from the various reports and the papers:

Acreage burned is approaching is approaching 800,000 acres and they still stick with Rhode Island size. Houses burned is approaching 3000-many million dollars home.Damage is still around 2 billion-think it should be approaching $3 billion.
They said it is costing the state $9-15 million to date and they say totally around $220 million. About 13,000 firefighters still fighting and clearing up.20 people confirmed dead but this will rise with cleanup of the fire.  Old Norton AFB is still being used as a evacuees center for the Big Bear and Lake Arrowhead.

We are pretty safe in the lowland area and the fire is something like 30 miles from us as the crowd flies.  It is the resort island of Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear which is still suffering and as the wind blows and the hot spots flare up the area is still in danger.  San Diego area has suffered the greatest acreage burned and the most killed but as they go up to big Bear and Lake Arrowhead they might find more than they care because of the mountain men who might have stuck around to protect their property or couldn't get out because the roads may have been under fire.

I am one happy camper to see this coming to the end and then the cleanup will start.