Byproducts of a disaster

The fire continues here in Santa Barbara. Last night it grew from 200 acres to 2400 acres. We watched as it went from a small area of our horizon to engulfing almost the entire mountains to the west. It is not coming south so much though, so for now, we are safe. However, the fire has been reeking havoc in other ways.

1) Electric. Last night smoke affected the main power line to Santa Barbara, and we were without power for 5 hours. We had scheduled with friends, Jared and Katie, for dinner. They came over and we had a great time playing Apples to Apples and eating by candlelight. The babies also had a great time playing. Also, we did not open the fridge or freezer and so everything was fine. My popsicles didn't even melt. Yea!

2) Air Quality. It may not snow in Santa Barbara, but it sure looks like it today. Ash is dropping from the sky and it is "overcast." The picture below is from yesterday. Because of the poor air quality, Clark and Lilly aren't coming to visit this weekend.

3) Society in general. With the power out and the fire looming on the horizon, it has been reassuring to see neighbors helping neighbors and being generally social. In my own way, I really enjoyed the power outage last night. It was truly dark for once and everyone was congregating and talking. A lot of people left though.

Yesterday afternoon, the winds were easterly; hence, the billowing smoke.

Mmmm... Makes me want to breathe deeply.

Sunset

Today, the smoke covers the whole sky. The first picture is from the Independent. You can find updates on the fire here.

Here is the current info:

Fire! Fire!

Vivian took this picture. That is my house on the left and my car on the right. Niiiiiccccceeee...

We're on Fire!! No, really!

So, there is a wild fire that I can see from my front door. They are calling it the "Gap Fire." It looks pretty gnarly at night when you can see the flames. So, far they are estimating that it has burnt 100 acres and is heading this way. However, we live on the ocean and have pretty good wind coming off of the water. Also, it has been "moist" from these breezes. On the other hand, SB gets these crazy winds called "sun downers." They are these hot winds that come from the hills. We are predicted to get sun downers tonight which would push the fire towards us. We were predicted last night and thankfully, they didn't come. It still has to burn through the ranches, a few developments, jump the highway, burn a shopping center, and a big field before it gets to us... or it could go west then south and burn all of Elwood Mesa and get to us.

There was a fire 18 years ago that burnt into the city with sun downers. It was the Painted Cave fire. It was 4 miles from where this fire is burning.

The helicopters and planes have been going all morning and they've brought in firefighters from the two neighboring counties and from LA.

We'll keep you updated.

For those who understand fire lingo: http://www.wildlandfire.com/hotlist/showthread.php?t=5461

Here are the pictures:

The red dot at the top is the fire. This is the view from the ocean.

This is the view from Cathedral Oaks.

This is the view from Camino Cielo.

This is Eliza watching the news with Dad.