I know it has been a while since I have posted, but I have been rather busy. I have basically taken over running the scene shop at citrus, so that has been filling my days. I have also spent a lot of time up at the fires.

I have had a few trips up to the fires, but Saturday was the most exciting. I Started at around 3pm, and left the fire a little after 3am. I started off at the northern edge of Haven Ave. in the city of Upland. It happened to be where Ted Chin from NBC was reporting from as well as CNN. It was fairly calm for a wildfire, with the flames high on the hill above creeping towards our location and many homes. The CDF crews decided to light 2 backfires, one to the west, and the other about 100 yards up the road. to try and create a break between the fire and the homes when the winds changed. The backfire set to the west quickly raced up the hill to meet the main fire which caused a vacuum pulling the second backfire into the now large blaze. As soon as they collided, there was a violent gust of wind, and as the area quickly went black with smoke and embers, the fire formed a tornado of flame and raced back at us. Of coarse, as soon as I saw this everyone including the fire crews made a quick retreat back down the hill. The tornado stopped about 10 yards shy of where we had all originally set up, but the threat to the homes was not over. Luckily there was a large force of fire crews available that were able to hold the flames back, and all of the homes in that block were saved with no damage.

unfortunately, this was not the case for many homes off of Mountain Rd. In Claremont which is where I ended my day. The Fire crews were spread very thin as the fire had such a large front. I was lucky enough to meet up with Engine Company 61 from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, and got to watch first had as they put up an amazing fight to save a home. They staged them selves in the back yard right at the ridge of a steep tree filled ravine. The 100ft tall flames were slowly working there way down the opposite side. The Santa Ana's kicked up through the canyon causing those flames to lay over sideways and almost instantly it was on top of the us and the home they were fighting to save. The 4 man crew did an amazing job of keeping the raging fire at bay. While the wood pile in the back yard was burnt down, there was no damage to the home at all. Sadly, some of the neighbor's were not so lucky as the fire quickly destroyed a few homes that the fire crews just could not get to in time. There were just not enough crews available to do what was needed to save them all. The firefighters were spread thin over the neighborhood with approx. 1 engine which is 4 people for every other block. All of the crews in the area did all they could and saved a lot more of the homes than I had expected when I saw it approaching.

As for myself, I made it out just fine. My Mom is not to thrilled about the idea of me being there, but I have make sure I keep my distance. I keep the rule of don't go anywhere there are not fire crews, and when I here them start to talk about backing off, I quickly leave the area. I have a pretty good cough, and a rather sore throat from the smoke but it was still worth it to be there and witness the force of a raging fire first hand.

I have a fair amount of video, and if I can find a service that will host it, I will get it posted.

In my guestbook that all of you need to sign, It was mentioned that I need more jokes. This one is one that my Aunt sent me the other day.

Two parrots are sitting on a perch, and one says to the other, "Do you smell fish?

and one that she has used for a while

What's the difference between roast beef and pea soup?
Anyone can roast beef.
and a oneliner from http://www.tech-sol.net/humor/one-liner10.htm

What do Eskimos get from sitting on the ice too long?
Polaroids.

I guess that is all for now.

C