Good to hear from you, I have been worried.

Thank you everyone also for the condolences.

The barn's on La Cresta Rd...they evacuated Monday, and from what i know their property's still fine

 I'm near the Cowles Mt. area....really just in between all the fires, so no threat to our area

I feel for all of you out there! I know from personal experience how scary the threat of a close fire is! It's so terrifying, especially when you can't move all your horses :( Just the thought of "which horses get to go" makes me sick! This was the view from my backyard couple years ago...

You guys are all in my thoughts/prayers (well, everyone in Cali is, even those I don't know). Hope they can get the fires under control soon!

Jessi

KCS - We are still in a safe area it seems like we are inbetween all the fires but none are coming in our direction so far. Also i'm very sorry about your mom. *hugs*

Also thank you everyone for your kind thoughts and prays. PLease keep the thoughts coming this way as there are still people who are being evacuated. Hopefully al this will be over soon.

thoughts and prayers are with all of you in california.  and kcs, i'm so sorry for your loss. 

KCS - I'm sorry about your Mother. I know how that feels. Mine passed in '96 and it's still hard at times (hugs).

I hope everyone stays safe. This has all been very scary.

I'm about 85 miles north of Los Angeles and 20 miles north of Agua Dulce where the Buckweed fire started. It ended in Santa Clarita where I used to live. The fire stopped 50 feet from my old house. I'm now in the desert surrounded by dry brush. We have our 100-foot brush clearance but would still need to get everyone out if it burned around us because of the smoke. It's been super windy though, more so than usual. I almost got blown off Scout on Sunday.

http://www.geomac.gov/viewer/viewer.htm

This website gives perameters of all the current fires. It takes awhile to find the right spot, but you can determine exactly where a fire is or has burned.

No fires are in downtown LA (we have earthquakes for that disaster), but if you have never been in this area, it might be hard to imagine what it is like.  The big "city" covers only a relatively small area, but the people, business, homes and land stretch out for hundreds of miles in every direction. 

Only a small percentage of the area is "ultra" wealthy and multimillion dollar homes like in Malibu.  The rest of it is suburban, middle class with towns and communities only covering a few square miles each (but each of these are adjacent to one another, giving the impression of one continuous city.)  Those who scream that the fires are our fault because we build in dangerous areas are mistaken in that much of the outlying area is the only affordable housing.  So many of these houses that seem extravagant are just the average home.  What is heartbreaking is that great swaths of these homes get wiped out all together in these firestorms.  The winds that come around every year (during high and low rain years ) are by nature, but the wackos that go out and set fires during that time are the real evil.  We have the resourses to fight the fires, (we have 17,000 National Guard Troops in Calif, and only 2000 in Iraq), but the winds make it impossible.

On the good side, there are thousands of people volunteering their homes, time, money, food and goods to assist the victims.  I heard that in San Diego, there are shelters that have huge boxes of everything from blankets to deodorant, toothpaste to sheets just waiting to be given to someone in need.  These were all donated by businesses and individuals -- and more importantly, delivered to the people who need it -- within a matter of hours. 

I guess I am just reacting to some of the ridiculous things I hear on TV, blaming the people who have lost everything.  This has been an unimaginable tragedy.  Those who are to blame are the despicable refuse who started the fires.  But let's also applaud those who come through as angels.

Some pictures: 

This horse was on a ranch that was saved.  Many of the areas burned were inland, horse property and not well-to-do. 

This is a typical neighborhood layout in So. Cali.

These firemen are siftling though a fellow fireman's home.  He was fighting the fires while his own home burned.

A local reporter was reporting on the fire Monday.  The home burning behind him just happened to be his own.

The FEMA supply warehouse is literally right next to my building on base. They've been packing and getting stuff in for the past 2 days now; I suspect they'll be ready to roll out today or tomorrow though I have no idea when they'll actually leave. It's crazy how much stuff they managed to fit in that little warehouse.

Looks like Ames/Dryden have already sent their unmanned aircraft down there to get hotspot data to the firefighters: NASA Fires Page

KCS thank you for the comments. Its very imporant to me and everyone else who lives in califonira and those who are effected but these fires that We are in a state of emergencie and those who want to sit there and point fingers and try and blame people for simply owning a house in one of the effected areas need to stand back and see the full picture. Those fires are nothing but a pure eval intant to mess up peoples lives and for what?? For there own satisfation? laughs? i mean come on people. I hope the catch who ever is responsible for those fires.

On another note - this was mentioned in another thread on the fires, and I thought I'd post it here too. The USEF have initiated an Equine Disaster Fund (specifically because of Hurricane Katrina, but made for disasters such as this)

We have an article on EquiSearch.com http://www.equisearch.com/equiwire_news/usefrelief_090507/ which includes an address where you can send donations and a link to where you can donate to the fund online.

Serrano Creek Ranch in Lake Forest where Briahna lives has taken in maybe 30 horses evacuated from Trabuco Canyon and Modjeska Canyon and the Sequioa Fire.  I was down there today and they are in the big turnout up front, in all the other empty stalls and in temporary pipe stalls in our main arena.  It looks like only a couple suffered trailer mishaps, no fire related injuries.  It is still very smokey and lots of ash in the air and on the ground.  The fire burned within a mile of the stables.  Very scary!!!!!

Good to know she is in a safe place.  I could hardly breathe just over the mountain from the Santana fire today.... must be thick where she is.  But I grew up with the fear of fire and how to save my animals; it was my main phobia as a kid.  Thank God it never burned the homes I was living in -- though it has gotten within feet.

Things look to be settling a bit.  There is 250,000 dollar reward for the sicko who set this fire alone.