Currently, our whole family is ok and we are not looking at an evacuation. The evacuation area is about 8 miles from us.
Four years ago, San Diego had some of the worst fires ever. They got close to us, but we were safe the whole time. So far, it looks like the same scenario is unfolding, but the fires may be much, much worse.
In the last fire, we had ash raining down on us with some pieces being as large as a playing card. Today, we woke with a fine layer of ash everywhere, but it isn’t too thick. It is probably worse for us since it is so small, but it isn’t raining ash.
Wind has been the biggest problem again this year. When Santa Ana winds blow, they come down from the high deserts above LA. They are hot and dry. They can take a cool January day and turn it into a dry 90 degree day in no time. In the mountain passes, the winds can hit 100+ miles per hour. They mostly blow in the same direction, and we are at the bottom of it. The interesting thing about our house is that we are tucked behind Mount Soledad (from the winds perspective). So, we don’t have much wind right now. I do know that it is blowing very hard not too hard from us. We can see the smoke going by with some of it pouring in over us.
So, we hope we just house other friends who have to evacuate. I don’t think we will go anywhere, but it is blowing in our direction.