Heroes are great; just not in MY family.

[Spiky Bugger]

Damn. My nephew...a Captain w/LA County Fire...was just assigned to Malibu.

I worked at a "Malibu Fire" fifty years ago. One of the scariest things about actually being there, even in a well-marked law enforcement (or fire) vehicle, is that many of the roads are carved out of hillside terrain...impassable except for the roads themselves. When everyone is trying to get the hell out of Dodge, you can (for example) head south on the one big highway, as you head to the smaller connecting roads you need, and have steep hills on the east and a steep drop into the Pacific Ocean on the west...and gridlock ensues.

I want him to come home now.

 

[Munchkin]

Sad! Hope he will be OK!

 

[Larra]

I hope he, and all the others, will come home safe and sound. Keep us posted.

 

[DianaCox]

Scary - I've been watching the fires on TV, and we're headed for CA in the morning. We'll be skirting the fire zone by taking I-10 just to the eastern side of CA, heading north to Needles and then across I-40 to Barstow, then to Bakersfield on Thursday, across either to I-5 or over to Paso Robles and up 101 (far north of the SoCal fires). But I just got this email from a friend who lives in the RV park south of Gilroy where we will be staying:

Hi Travelers, we are smoky from Camp Fire. Hope your trip is safe and see you when u arrive.We stay indoors since smoke since don is in sensitive group and old group.

I'm not looking forward to having to breathe smoke. But I AM looking forward to seeing our kids and my dad.

 

[hilary1617]

Hoping the fires abate and wishing safety for all, especially BF travelers and loved ones!

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I get to worry, along w/my sister, because we kind of raised him together for the first few months.

His bio dad was a VietNam PTSD victim. I was living w/my mom and my sister and her son moved when he was less than a week old. We did “shift work.” Our mom did daytime daycare, when my sister was at work and
I slept. I left for work at 2pm and my sister got home by 5pm. I got home between midnight and 3am, depending on overtime and how many bars I needed to visit. My sister was back up by 5 or 6am.

Poor kid never had a moment to himself.

We used a steno pad to log his diaper changes and bottles fed to him.

And I KNOW I’m old because he’s talking retirement.

Here’s fire info...currently NINETY-SIX THOUSAND ACRES.

 

[southernlady]

Keep us updated. I hope he stays ok.

 

[southernlady]

DianaCox our stay in Montana last summer ended up with both of us having asthma and needing inhalers. BE careful!

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Forgot this:

http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=2282

 

[k9ophile]

That map is horrifying. In my latest efforts to avoid the political nonsense, I've been in the No News mode. Of course I knew there was "a" fire. Had no idea it's actually fires. I hope he's OK when all the ashes settle.

 

[JackieOnLine]

just like the others said: hope he is OK, please keep us updated.

 

[DianaCox]

DianaCox our stay in Montana last summer ended up with both of us having asthma and needing inhalers. BE careful!

Good reminder to bring the air purifier - it's primary purpose is to remove cat fur from the air we breathe, but particulate matter from the smoke will be good to run through the HEPA filter too.

 

[JackieOnLine]

I was going to recommend a mask, too, N95 is what you need but then I read there are some risks to using them.

and since you are driving there, make sure the "cabin filter" in your car is not in need or replacement.

 

[DianaCox]

We’re actually in our RV, towing the Jeep. We had unexpected adventures today. From my FB post:

The best (or second best) laid plans ...

We got a very late start for our trip to CA today. As soon as we got on the freeway, there was a terrible whistling noise from the front of the coach. It was intermittent but it was getting worse. Charles pulled off at a rest stop just west of Tonopaugh.

We looked at the windshield - which is HUGE, and was just replaced in February under our insurance - and it was separated all across the top and partway down the sides!!

We put some Gorilla tape on the separated edges but that was clearly not going to be enough. Charles wanted to turn around and go home, but I started making phone calls and emails to the people who replaced it, and to glass repair place in Quartzite, 60 miles further west.

Long story short, we found a mobile tech, who turned out to be an authorized repair tech for the company who put in the windshield, and he was an hour away; in the meantime the repair company got in touch with him and it will all be covered at no cost to us. He said not to even try to drive it to Quartzite, where he was - he’d come to us. He’s working on it now.

According to the tech, the people who put in the windshield in February didn’t use ANY glue. We’ve moved the rig around a bit since then, with only the gasket holding it in place - we’re fortunate it didn’t fall out before this!

Of course, that messed up our plans to get to Barstow tonight and Gilroy by tomorrow night, but as RVers, we have to be flexible! After sitting for an hour to let the glue set, we’ll drive to Quartzite tonight, and then get as far as Bakersfield tomorrow night. Reservations already changed. And actually, given how puny Charles is still feeling, it’s probably better to do the 700 miles in 3 days anyway.

And the tech is even cleaning the windshield, which was pretty dirty!

 

[harrietvane]

It's definitely smoky here in NorCal. I'm staying with friends, and their toddler is desperate to get outside and run around (and everyone else is desperate to let him!). All indoor playgrounds have been selling out as parents try to entertain cooped up kids. I made my first visit to Chuck E Cheese today as a result.