Station Fire Out of Control!

The fire I saw on my way to McDonald's on Thursday has now spiraled out of control. Here are a few pictures, taken from this Los Angeles Times article.





Our house is safe, but the smoke and ash has been horrendous. If you go outside, it hurts to breathe. Yesterday we went to Burbank for a few hours, and it looked like a nuclear bomb had been detonated over La Canada-Flintridge and Pasadena. It looks apocalyptic here.



Many of the homes in Briggs Terrace have been destroyed. This is the area we have been zeroing in on in our housing search. We've seen about twenty homes there in the past few months. It's a wonderful area, perched right on the foothills of the Angeles National Forest, with an awesome public school system.



Many of the homes in Briggs Terrace are (or were) 100 years old. It's a really special place, and I hope that it's still standing after the smoke clears.



Over the past two/three months, we have dialed back our housing search because we had Ginger. If we hadn't had Ginger, we probably would have bought a new house in this area in June or July. I guess that's why this is affecting me so much. I am just speechless at how easily this could have been us...and we could have lost our home and been in the middle of this giant blaze.




I feel lucky to be in the neighboring town of Pasadena, removed from the blazing foothills. We are covered in smoke and ash, but I know that all this will pass. I feel so awful for the unlucky families whose homes have now been destroyed, or who will be dealing with the effects of smoke damage to their homes and belongings for years to come. The fire has been devastating to much of the wildlife in the area, and of course, the beautiful forest is gone...for now. It will grow back with time, which is one hopeful ray of light in an otherwise horrific situation.

Thoughts and prayers are with everyone who is living through the fire.