Hi Bert,
i was only just reading about the fire this afternoon here in Sydney Australia
http://mobile.news.com.au/world-news/california-wildfire-doubles-in-size/stor
y-fndir2ev-1226635036811
My prayers are with you and your family, good luck and hope it all goes well
for everyone involved. I grew up near a National Park in Sydney, and it never
got as bad for us as you have described.
Sincerely.
Chris
On 04/05/2013, at 3:33 PM, Bert Van Brande <bertvanbrande@yahoo.com> wrote:
> It's been a crazy couple days... it all started with a careless driver
tossing
> a cigaret out of a car on the 101 at the Conejo incline yesterday morning at
a
> moment when we had Santa-Anna winds. These winds come from the north-east
> inland and as they speed up through the canyons they heat up. Temperatures
> rose yesterday by 20-30 degree Fahrenheit and humidity dropped from 80% to
> single digit. In no time this fire spread to Camarillo and the Dos Vientos
> community in Newbury Park where the Sycamore Canyon Elementary and Middle
> school and the high-school needed to be evacuated. So my wife picked up
> Benjamin and Helena and brought a couple friends to our house to shelter
until
> things cleared on the other side of the community. No houses were lost due
to
> amazing fire crews.
>
> From there the fire raced down to the pacific ocean about
> 8 miles away. On the way down the California State University Channel
Islands
> needed to be evacuated. This used to be a Mental institution (nothing
> changed, right?) and rumored to be the Hotel California from that same
Eagles
> song. ...You can check in every time of day but you can never leave... By
> night time the fire reached the ocean and started to spread east towards
> Malibu and threatened the Pt Mugu Naval base.
>
> Late morning the winds turned
> from NE to SW and the fire now headed straight back to our home. It was
> moving away from us the day before. I raced back from work to make sure
> everyone was ok and that we were prepared. A dark ominous cloud came right
> over us and ashes started to rain down. The air was barely breathable. My
son
> Alex came over to help and we closed all vents with aluminum flashing and
foil
> tape. This is where glowing embers usually get sucked into attics. I called
a
> tow company and my Austin-Healey BN2 "Work in Progress" was brought to a
safe
> spot.
>
> With our important documents ready in a plastic box, our photo albums,
> external hard-drive and some necessities we were ready to go on an instant.
> The fire had reached the west side of Hidden Valley right behind us. This
> valley is home to some celebrities like Tom Selleck and Chris Rock. Sean
> Connery is selling his ranch there and Britney Spears live on the east side
of
> this valley! There are a lot of huge ranches in Hidden Valley and our
> ex-neigbor trains thorougbred jumpers there. This is just over the hill
> behind us probably just half a mile away. Late pm West Hidden Valley was
> under voluntary evacuation, people and horses were brought into safety but
> again no houses lost.
>
> And then late afternoon the wind kept turning to a
> south wind and slowed down, this breeze brought cold air from the ocean and
> humidity. And so this dark cloud started to drift away and the fire started
to
> somewhat subside. The firefighters are focussing their efforts now around
> Yerba Buena road in Malibu but we could still see spot fires on nearby
hills
> so things are not completely over yet. It can be 10 days or so before it's
all
> clear and the fire called 100% contained. About an hour ago firemen are
> setting controlled fires on the ridge right above us to clear away the
"fuel".
> My family is still in stand-by but we're all safe and as much prepared as
we
> can be.
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