Southern California—A truly dynamic place. For the most part, a pretty neat place to live, too. Except during fire season. The past two days has served as a frightening reminder of that. I woke up on Sunday morning to the news that Malibu was pretty much engulfed in fire. At that point, I'm thinking, "I'm sure glad I live in the Santa Clarita Valley!" I was very worried however, about a friend who just two days before, I had helped move to Malibu. I couldn't reach him on his cell phone, and had no other way to check on him. So I left him a message, asking him to contact me, to which I still have not received a reply.
The reports started coming in on a new fire around noon. This one in Agua Dulce, located just a few miles from me. Then another fire; this one in Castaic. Soon the fire had reached Canyon Country, and shortly thereafter, Saugus. The next thing I know, homes are being evacuated just two blocks from where I live. It went on like this throughout the night, and well into the following day. My family packed a few belongings, and we waited. It got real tense around here, as the wind would die down, then pick back up again. We watched as one hillside after another became engulfed in flames. The helicopters and Canadian 'Super-Scoopers' flew back and forth over-head, dropping water on the fires almost all day. Finally, when the order to evacuate never came, we could breathe again. But it's not over, not yet. Still more wind expected tomorrow, and the fires are still far from being contained.
Still no word from my friend.
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