FIRE!!

So, last night Anita (Justin's mom) asked Justin if we were anywhere near the forest fires. He responded that no, they're all up north- hours from us. About an hour later we were walking out of the grocery store and noticed that up in the mountains we could see....you guessed it... a forest fire. I couldn't get very good pictures last night (too dark) but I took a couple today. There is so much smoke and ash that you can't see flames right now but here is a status update from our news source website:

GAP Fire Update: (they're calling it the "GAP Fire" I think b/c it occurs in a gap between two peaks)

FIRE STATS, RESOURCES AND CURRENT STATUS
FIRE STATS:
Acres burned: 260 Acreage increase (last 12 hours):
Fireline to build: unknown
Date started: 07/02/2008 5:45 p.m.
Percent contained: unknown
Expected containment: unknown
Injuries: 0
Structures threatened: 200
Structures destroyed: 0
Suppression cost to date: unknown

RESOURCES:Crews: 7 Engines: 20 Helicopters: 4 Air Tankers: 4 Dozers: 16 Total Personnel Assigned: 350

CURRENT STATUS: The Gap Fire started in the West Camino Cielo area late yesterday afternoon, 4 miles west of State Highway 154 and 3.5 miles north of Goleta, CA in the Los Padres National Forest. • Fire is burning in 30-50 year old heavy chaparral fuels (15-20 feet tall), in extremely steep and rocky terrain. Winds out of the north (slight “sundowner” winds) last night pushed the fire downslope to the south at a moderate rate of spread. During the early hours of the fire, spotting occurred ahead of the fire and flame lengths of 10-30 feet were reported.• This afternoon the fire is making a push to the south and is experiencing extreme fire behavior. • Firefighters on the ground, during daylight hours, are aided by fixed wing air tankers and water-dropping helicopters. In addition to the firefighting resources already engage, many additional engines, crews and other equipment are route.

EVACUATIONS:

• A MANDATORY evacuation is in place for residents in Glen Annie Canyon and La Patera Canyon (in the canyons proper).

• An evacuation WARNING is in place for areas above/north of Cathedral Oaks between Glen Annie Canyon and Fairview Avenue.

So, the evacuation warning is obviously precautionary- people in that area are advised to be ready to evacuate, if it becomes necessary. We are about 2 miles from the edge of that warning area- so we are not in any immediate danger.

Still, it's pretty crazy! Here are the shots I took this afternoon, including a crude video and an up-close picture of one of our bike seats - starting to be covered in ash. You can literally see the ash falling- it's pretty small but it's simliar to a very light snow flurry. So light that I can't capture it on film- but you get the idea.

All of the pictures are taken from outside the grocery store near our apartment (about 3/4 of a mile from our place) except for the one below, taken outside our apartment.