Such widespread devastation throughout our beautiful Southern California region! The unprecedented wildfires are like nothing we’ve ever seen. And the official fire season has only now begun. Yes, we’re used to wildfires here but no, we never really get used to them. They are a fearsome danger every year, but never have there been so many (15 by some counts, more by others) raging all at the same time for a week. Several are not yet contained, still threatening thousands.
The bravery of those men and women fighting the fires cannot be overstated. The stubbornness of those who got in their way by staying beyond the time of mandatory or voluntary evacuations can be understood yet deplored. Many, of course, could not flee. They had no transportation or no help to get to it. It will be a mercy from Above if no more bodies are found. One friend commented that the burned-over area looks as though an asteroid had struck. Too vivid images look like a war zone. Not a few have said that perhaps the last days are now here. The shock in the voices of friends forced to flee to safety haunts one’s memory. I can believe their own personal nightmares will be recurring for a long time yet, even with vital spiritual and mental counseling.
And now the biggest nightmare of all is beginning, that of dealing with the insurance companies. Anyone who has ever filed an insurance claim for any kind of loss knows that you will be treated as though you are a criminal, as though the loss was your fault. As they say, “been there, done that.” It isn’t your friendly insurance agent you’ll be dealing with; it will be an adjustor and their job is to save the company’s money. In this type of tragedy, perhaps they could save their paranoia and vent it on the next arsonist they confront, not his victims.
If there’s any way you can stretch to possibly help the families and individuals who have lost homes or loved ones, please donate to your church or to the American Red Cross, and mark the donation as being for Southern California Fire Victims. God will bless you for your kindness.
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The Chatsworth and Thousand Oaks fires–officially called the Topanga Fire–are not yet fully contained, but thankfully, they are not now the threat that they were either. Unfortunately, many weary firefighters have had to be reassigned to the growing Burbank fire that is almost certainly caused by arson. (The cause(s) of the Topanga fire, which appears now to have burned 24,000 acres near heavily-populated areas, is still under investigation.) We are also still hearing helicopters, as they fly back and forth over the Topanga Fire.
I am one of those “hard-hearted” people who feel no compassion whatsoever for arsonists and the “thrill of it all” for them. I frankly don’t care what’s going on in their disarranged minds, or that they had a deprived childhood. Many millions of people had less-than-perfect, even miserable, childhoods but they didn’t, and don’t, go out and set fires to destroy what isn’t theirs in the first place.
We are immensely fortunate that this time no human lives have yet been lost. In addition, highly trained and coordinated firefighters from many communities across California worked together to save more than 2,000 homes in the veering path of the raging Topanga Fire! Sadly, for many people, their losses have no price tag. Some few this time will grieve for decades over priceless heirlooms that can never be replaced. Many more will mourn missing pets, and devastated wildlife populations that burned to death or died of smoke inhalation.
We noticed late yesterday that the hummingbirds and mockingbirds are back–though from where, we don’t know. We haven’t yet seen the house sparrows, the blue jays, the phoebes, or the tiny finches I still haven’t identified. We don’t even hear the raucous, nattering conventions of the crows, as they discuss the state of the universe or chase invaders away. The silence is unnatural. We haven’t yet seen Momma Possum or her babies, but they probably found refuge and survived. There are no carcasses in the backyard, after all.
Yet most of those wild animals still alive in the area will now starve to death because there is no food and only a little water for them. The deer will be too weakened to migrate very far in their search for food. The coyotes, mountain lions, bobcats, and possibly, black bears will now venture even more boldly into residential neighborhoods–particularly in the San Fernando Valley–because they are so hungry. This means cats and small dogs are at even higher risk for being snatched, so owners must keep them inside. It’s necessary to supervise small children at all times.
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The past 24 hours have been a very scary repeat of the 2003 fires, especially with Box Canyon going up in flames only a mile or so away from us. Fire and police officials ordered mandatory evacuations and the long line of frightened but obedient evacuees, many of them pulling horse trailers, began snaking through our neighborhood. Unfortunately, ours is not a through street, but it is part of a horseshoe shape that people can follow back out to within a half-block of a main street that does cross a good ten miles of the valley. So, in most years that artery carries traffic well away from the danger zones. Most of those with horse trailers were headed for Pierce College, which has the facilities to shelter large animals. For the first time, Animal Services is coordinating the rescue of smaller pets, too. This is a plan that is long overdue, so is most welcome.
Next, Bell Canyon erupted into a firestorm during the evening. At sight of that, we began stacking emergency “grab and run” bags and possessions ourselves. For us, the fear was of a westerly wind springing up and driving the fire back towards our neighborhood. In 2003 we’d had flaming palm fronds landing in our backyard (including the fishpond), as well as in the bed of our pickup truck. At 11 p.m. yesterday, I was still pacing the sidewalk across the street and checking out towering, billowing, brown and orange clouds and the red, yellow, and white-hot flames shooting up beneath them. Some people were taking pictures, but the scene was too surreal for me to raise the camera. I finally went to bed at midnight, but slept little.
Today the fire has swept southwest, devouring dry brush and trees, and trying to swallow homes from Hidden Hills and Calabasas out through Agoura Hills, Westlake Village and Thousand Oaks. It is a hungry monster, hampered only by light winds instead of yesterday’s 35 to 40 mph winds that gusted to 75 mph. And of course, fires create their own winds, sometimes resulting in a firestorm. In an outstanding example of inter-agency cooperation, we have fire companies here from throughout the state. They combat the fire by digging trenches, laying down hoses, and dropping water from helicopters and sky cranes. The firefighting choppers have even been sucking up water from the usually dry Chatsworth Reservoir, so last winter’s endless rainstorms have done some good, along with the heavy plant growth they created. Now firefighters are also starting small backfires to keep the larger fire from jumping the firebreaks they have dug. To be continued….