Southern California is on Fire....Literally

I'm sitting here in my office in Pico Rivera, smelling the smoke from all the fires around. When I go outside I can see this haze just hanging overhead from all the smoke. Sometimes there is a burnt smell in the air, which is strange since we are not even close to any fire. I guess that would be the wind factor. We have had gusts up to 112 mph in some areas. Even when I was doing laundry last night the winds were gusting up to 80 in my area.

So far we have about 13 fires that are raging from San Diego County to Santa Barbara County, which are over 100 miles away from each other. Several firefighters have been injured with minor to moderate injuries, over 100,000 Acres have been burned, dozens of homes lost, and over 250,000 people evacuated. And the worst is yet to come.

San Diego County is being hit the hardest right now. There are a total of six fires burning right now, over 100,000 acres have been burned so far in San Diego County alone, and over 250,000 have been evacuated, mostly to Qualcomm Stadium (home of the San Diego Chargers).

In Orange County, over 8,800 Acres have been burned so far. Officials have confirmed the fire was started intentionally in three different places. Containment is estimated at 20% and expected to be 30% by tonight.

Malibu, a city on the beach known for its high profile residents such as actors and directors, has had over 2,400 acres burned, destroyed five homes and damaged ten more. One church and the famous Hodges' castle have also been destroyed. Containment so far is at 10%.

In Lake Arrowhead, strong winds of up to 80 mph, are fueling a fire that has burned over 400 acres and destroyed dozens of homes. Unconfirmed reports are that over 100 have been destroyed. Up to 1,500 homes are still threatened. North Lake Arrowhead and Grass Valley have been evacuated. Currently there is no containment.

In Castaic, over 29,000 acres have been burned with 200 homes being evacuated. Containment is at 10%.

With all of this going on the Governor has declared a state of emergency for 7 counties as of Sunday night. Fire departments outside of California are also responding to assist with the containment of all of these fires. Even fire departments from out of state are coming to assist with anything they can. Over 1,000 fire fighters are trying to battle these blazes that are burning everywhere.

I want to send my wishes out to everyone affected by the fires. My heart is with you and your families.