Ooh Ooh that smell...

Fire update.

There is actually more land burning this evening, on the hillside near our condo, than there was last night. And the smell of the fire is much stronger (can you smell that smell?).

Today I was able to work from our new Orange County office, so I could be home quickly if need be, and what a relief that was. I was home by 6 p.m. because we did not have any evacuation notices (thank the lord).

But alas, our hillside is full of flames from the fire that has moved into Mojeska Canyon. The video I've attached is from this evening. I wish you could see the red glow as well as we can. You would be amazed. The area shown burning is Portola Hills. Hopefully it will not get any worse before it gets better.

The wind is down, but because it is dark they do not fly aircraft to assist in the fight against the fire. Many of you have seen all of California in flame on the news. It is very sad, but certainly we've gone through this before and we will again. We will feel a sense of relief when there are no more flying ambers.

That's strange, as I finish typing this blog I can hear aircraft (a helicopter, I believe) hovering over by the fire. That is either a news helicopter reporting or it's gotten worse (and I'm just too exhausted to walk down to the end of the street "again" to see). I will just have to trust that all is under control.

If you look closely in the second video taken only two minutes after the first, you can see the flames getting bigger to the right of the video. How strange fire is to watch burn.

My cousin asked me how far away we were to the fire. Well, my guess is 2-3 miles. And that's not really a lot when you're talking about wind, flame and ambers.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.