Fire Fire Everywhere

Well boys and girls, it's fire season once again. And it's at our barn. I took the photo you see above yesterday afternoon at our facility. The fire was at the back of the property across the street, with the blasting wind driving the fire straight at us. There was a mad scramble to get horses and possessions moved. Fortunately, we got our horses out in good time--they're safely ensconced in a nearby smoke-free barn. My daughter E helped coordinate our horses (as well as many others) at the evacuation site while I and a number of other boarders worked on moving more horses and gear at our barn. The giant water-dropping helicopters were dashing back and forth from the orchard reservoir (about a half-mile away from us) to the fire line, just skimming the treetops above us, deafening everyone in the process and scaring all the remaining horses. It was like a Keystone Kopps film, only not in a funny way.

This morning, our facility is out of immediate danger, but the fire is still raging out of control to the west of us, heading towards more homes, barns, and populated areas, making its way to the ocean--the only true firebreak. We're still helping to coordinate the horse evacuations (I am a telephoning fool this morning), so even if structures burn, the people and animals will be safe.

Send us some kind thoughts and if you have any influence over the weather (my mom is a champion cloud chaser), please move the high pressure system out of our area--we're expecting more extremely hot and dry days this week, the classic Red Flag Warning stuff that puts everyone in southern California on high alert.

Stay tuned for more updates from Fire Central.