Prayers for the burned west coast

Photo: Steve Zylius, The Orange County Register

I'm sure most of you are aware of the craziness going on in California. If not, wildfires have burned much of the west coast leaving charred remains of land and homes in its wake from Los Angeles to San Diego. In the middle of that is Orange County, where I was born and raised. My family still lives there. And when news broke out about the fires in OC I immediately logged on to OCregister's website to get some more information.

I read that one of the fires was burning awfully close to my brother's apartment. I grabbed my phone and called Henry to see if he was okay and to get some more information. He said he and Vanessa, his girlfriend, were on alert and had their bags packed and ready to go. The flames had burned a mere 200 feet from his apartment when they were pushed back by firefighters. Still, there is always the threat that the Santa Ana winds could blow their direction. He told me to call our parents later for more information, since that's the place they would go for shelter. Our parents only live a few miles away but aren't in any danger.

I talked to my mom this morning and she said Henry was fine and they didn't have to evacuate last night. But, mom and dad were ready if they needed to get out. She said the worst part, this morning, is that the smoke is blowing into their house. It could be worse I suppose. She said that last night her and my dad walked over to the park a few houses down and watched the flames slowly creep up Saddleback mountain. She said the orange glow looked like a snake as it made it's way up the mountain.

Side note:
As I made my way to work this morning, I was listening to Kid Craddock on Y107, a local radio station, as they talked about the wildfires. They made a few insensitive jokes about it and just talked about the celebrities who were losing their homes to the fires. Tom Hanks is the one I remember. But, I was struck by the utter lack of compassion and sensitivity these dj's displayed. They did mention that it was 'bad' what was going on over there. But, to crack the jokes they did is just plain stupid. Local dj's don't crack jokes when people lose their homes from tornadoes. But, they get tornadoes and understand that scenario. Hey, I grew up in California, and I understood two things, wildfires and earthquakes. I was really irked by these morons (can you tell?) and wish I'd had the opportunity to put them in their place (of course, it's not my place). All that just to make themselves appear to be funny. Well, I've got news for ya Kid Craddock, you're not.