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Ya, its pretty ugly. I feel for the people up north, just read that 5-6 people died in cars trying to evacuate. It can come on fast, my rental property probably safer than my main home, more open space and right by the school which is a priority to protect. Scary shit.
RR
I know gypsy’s place is surrounded by rocky outcrops and hopefully for her that’s one of the fires travelling away towards the ocean. But then there’s someone in the path and just as tragic. I can’t imagine the terror of sitting in your car and dying surrounded by smoke and fire.
We are safe!
We are indeed only 1.5 miles from where the “Woolsey” fire started Thursday, and it has been an utterly incredible and devastating sight to have witnessed This Huge Firestorm so close. We were packed and ready to go and I even in my heart I said goodbye to my beautiful Gypsy. We kept diligent fire watch, continually going to the end of the road to see how much it had encroached towards us against the wind.
If you can put this into the thrread I would be grateful. Hello to all and Thank You.
Glad you are safe. Keep a diligent eye on things and leave if you feel like it even has a chance to get to you. Keep the roads in mind, will you be able to get through? Scary shit.
RR
It posts into the thread even when you answer by email.
A friend of mine is a professor at California Lutheran University and they had the shooting and the fire this week. She says they have no internet and the cell data is overloaded and slow. I don’t know if you are also affected by the outages but I do appreciate you taking a minute to let us know.
It was nice to get your email, Karma and thanks again to everyone. Yesterday was extremely distracting. It is quiet with low winds and smoky today, but Reg Flag due to come up until Tuesday by tomorrow. There was a small fire upwind of us ! midnight Thursday) and that was 1 hour of sheer terror, but the Brave Firemen- Hero’s jumped on it and put it out!! My best friend knows at least 7 people that lost their homes.
Thank you RR
Yes, ours is a small dead end road so it is very important not to block the fire access and to get out with plenty of time. Last night I thought we could count on a sheriff coming up with a loudspeaker, only found out this a.m. that they were too busy elsewhere this time. However we had a neighbor here who had a walkie talkie direct line to the fire commander of our immediate area. Also My Dh Brother was here.
Three local fire scares since then, we are remaining on watch. Winds whipping until Wednesday…
Just wanted to bump this up.
We opened our home to families (free until the end of this month), and heavily discounted long term rate for families into December. We are receiving too many requests, too many to even respond to in time. I would urge any hosts willing to participate in the Open Homes program to please do so. It seems like there are a lot of families (groups of 4 especially) that are in need. Our home is nearly 100 miles away from the fire evac zone but people are willing to travel in order to find stability…
Thanks for pointing that out.
We are also about 100 miles from the fires and have had evacuees since it started. (We are closer to the fires up North.) I hadn’t thought through long-term rentals. Thanks for bringing that up - we need to come up with a plan if that is what people need.
We still have not had our 1st guest so we might put an ad in crgslst for a low cost str to ltr ( not sure) for fire victims only. A well equipped airbnb would be welcome over a motel room, and could create a softer landing.
DH Aunt said all of her long term friends from fine art class people lost their homes in the Malibu fire. I called her to say we would be open to one of them coming, but they are Malibu people with family and 2nd homes, for the most part. That still does not minimize the loss. They probably bought out there when it was nowhere land and cheap. Not sure if you rebuild probably you have to pay the new much higher taxes.
I have a good friend who lost everything except the stuff he had with him on an out of town trip in the Bastrop, TX fire. It was especially devastating because he had just finished up with his parents estate in Lubbock a few months prior. He had literally spent over a year going through their things, deciding what to keep, packing it up and taking it back to Bastrop with him and within months three lifetimes worth of memories, pictures and some treasures were gone. His experience is a big reason why I enter the deaccumulation phase of my life ahead of schedule. The emotional devastation far exceeds what most people routinely think about.
Another friend who boards dogs like I do had an in home fire when she was fostering animals and lost 17 of her own and foster dogs and cats. How one finds the strength to go after something like that, I hope I never have to find out.
Karma, what sad stories… I just heard from a friend 26% of the homes were lost in their unique community. But my friends home still stands:), however the ‘industrial hygienist’ warns them about moving back in for a whole year.
I think I am pretty good about releasing stuff. I fit what I really wanted into my sedan during the Woolsey fire with out stuffing it.
I heard about a rescue of a pony that was lifted out of a burning corral into a truck. the dogs perished in the house of the same family. The rescuers obviously had no idea the dogs were there. so sad.
I think that Malibu Dream Airstream, which was one of my main inspirations, may have burnt up. It’s so sad. I just tried to find their listing and it says “this listing is no longer available” . It was fine glamping, booked solid @ a high price 250+ and they had Taylor Swift there … there is a video which shows all the non fire access and burnable open space.
Oh dear. Hopefully they are just housing someone displaced.
The mayor of Malibu has said on the radio that they have the surveyor available to re-assess your property if it burned down, so that your property tax can be eased. I thought that was helpful.
Just an update: we spoke to The Washington Post about our participation in the program. The writer does an excellent job in covering this under reported subject of what it’s like to actually host an Open Home evacuee. And you can find us if you scroll down.
Thanks for hosting, and thanks for posting. I loved the article and am surprised and pleased 2000 hosts participated for the recent CA fires.
I’d love to read it when I get a free reading day at WP>