Today, like yesterday, was a day to stay largely indoors, protecting my lungs as much as possible from any smoke that’s lingering in the skies above. While we live in an area that hasn’t been seriously threatened by any fire, we’re not immune from the shifting winds. On Saturday night, heading towards a party, we had to turn back because the road was blocked by a felled tree. This was just north of us in one of the canyons. While there haven’t been serious fires in recent memory on the scale of those plaguing San Diego County, places such as Coldwater, Laurel Canyon, and Beverly Glen are never immune from the threat of fire. Just west of us, in Brentwood, a 1961 fire laid waste to Stone and Benedict Canyons. Who’s to say it won’t happen again…?

The Santa Anas arrived late last week with a vengeance; they are our version of the Chinooks that plague western Canada and the Northern reaches of the Rockies and Great Plains. Santa Anas means those who live in or very close to canyons are always in danger of suffering damages from the fires spawned during Santa Ana season. Of course, the winds themselves do not cause fires on their own, but a downed phone line with its arcing wires certainly can spark flames, which are then spread by the winds far from their origin. Since the weekend, the region’s been suffering from the fires, either from the imminent threat of death and destruction, or from the contributing wretched air quality. Just as the Gulf and Atlantic coasts have hurricane season, we have fire season.

As usual, the folks in Malibu are suffering yet again; that area is known to most of the rest of the world as a celebrity enclave, studded with beaches. But the coastline there is relatively narrow, and right past PCH (Pacific Coast Highway for you non-locals) are the Santa Monica Mountains and the numerous canyons– canyons, I might add, that are perfect conduits for Santa Ana winds and the firestorms they help spread.

I really don’t understand why people build on hills and in canyons around here. Other than the multi-million dollar views, there’s so much risk: fires, which lay waste to the hills, which then become that much more prone to mudslides. Throw in earthquakes (which are a bane for all of us), which partially or wholly aided in shaping the hills and mountains as we know them, and you have the perfect scenario for calamity in the way of property damage, injuries, and deaths. Places like Malibu and the central portions of San Diego County are situated in mountains, canyons, and back country covered with brush and chapparal: perfect conditions for conflagrations like those happening now.

I’ve been in here most of the day, with the windows shut and the curtains down, to keep out the unhealthful air and try to keep the place cool. It’s not only smoky, it’s been unseasonably warm today (at 7 p.m., it was 82 degrees just up the hill from us…), yesterday, and expected to be warm, warm, warm until the weekend. At first glance, it didn’t seem too bad, but I recall the 2003 fires, when I woke up one morning and found ash completely covering our car. The ash had traveled from the fires in San Bernardino County, and this year, there are fires there again… The Santa Anas blow southwestward, so we’re in the path of these sometimes hurricane-level winds.

Luckily, those that we know are so far safe and have suffered no harm, but of course, that could always change. We were very worried in 2003 for our friend (and a commenter here at the Sandbox), Todos la vie; she lives in an area that was threatened mightily then. This time, her home area seems to be safe, but she’s still getting a close-up view of the fires in the Santa Clarita Valley and Piru areas, I’m sure. Quite a few news accounts today and yesterday talk of people who stayed in their homes until the last moment, sure they would have time to load up, grab pets, valuables, etc. One new homeowner stubbornly insists on staying behind:

Under a mandatory evacuation order, police could have theoretically removed Ashtari and the other holdouts by force, Odom said.

“We just don’t have the manpower,” he said. “We don’t have the bodies to drag them out kicking and screaming.”

Firefighters say authorities cannot remove residents from a home but can bar them from returning if they do leave.

Odom said he and his colleagues would man the checkpoint until they were forced to leave to protect themselves.

“If that happens, I’ll go pound on the door to give them one last warning,” Odom said. “Then I’m gone.”

Ashtari said he was ready.

“If a captain wants to go down with his ship,” he said, “they let him.”

That’s all well and good, but I half expect this guy to turn up on the casualty lists within the next few days. As Neil over at Deaf Firefighter’s Blog points out, a room can explode in flames in a matter of minutes. In this post, he links to a video that shows what happens when flashover occurs (he also notes, ironically for So Cal, that October is Fire Safety Month).

I have sympathy for people in general during this time, especially those in the Santa Clarita area; they recently had to deal with the tunnel fire on I-5, and now they have to cope with this. I have less sympathy for the Malibuites, who continue to live in their multi-million dollar palaces and beach bungalows, despite the fact that fires rage through that portion of the county every few years on average. I have even less sympathy for those in San Diego County; after the devastating Cedar Fire in October 2003, voters rejected in early 2004 ballot measures which would have increased fire protection in the unincorporated areas. Even before these bills were submitted, there was quite a bit of finger-pointing in the wake of the 2003 fires:

“…of the largest counties in the state, San Diego is the only one without a countywide fire department. Instead, residents are served by a patchwork of 44 city departments and rural fire districts – many of which rely on part-time volunteers who must be summoned from other jobs by pagers.”

Historically, voters down there have rejected time and again taxes and other measures that would improve the quality of fire protection:

“…consider that voters in East County’s unincorporated communities have historically resisted taxing themselves to fund their rural fire departments. In fact, between 1979 and 2004, rural voters had rejected 32 of 50 measures asking them to approve new fire funds.”

So while I’m sympathetic to the loss of life that occurs each time there are fires, I am not wholly in sync with fools who insist on living in fire-prone areas, then refuse to protect themselves. “No taxes” may be a favorite rallying cry for those who are selfish and insist on keeping their pocketbooks closed, but you get what you pay for. You want roads, sewage lines, public services, and fire and police protection? Better be prepared to pay up.

In the meantime, the rest of us sit patiently, trying to avoid the gridlocked freeways, staying inside avoiding the toxic air, and waiting out the fire this time.

UPDATE: the fires are still going strong in San Diego County, the Santa Clarita Valley, and the Lake Arrowhead area, as of 11 p.m. PDT on the 23rd. My hope is that there are no additional deaths, and that injuries are limited. It’s at times like these I marvel at the hard work and professionalism of firefighters. These men and women put their lives on the line ensuring the safety of life and environment.

Here’s an article that will be out in tomorrow morning’s Los Angeles Times talking about how the smoke affects those of us who aren’t anywhere near the actual danger zones.

Because of Southern California’s quirky topography and wind patterns, neighborhoods with no danger of wildfires are often the ones most affected by wind-driven smoke.

The article focuses on Long Beach, an area that almost never has serious fires beyond house fires and other structural burns, yet receives tons of smoke and suffers lousy air quality. Mr. Sandman and his wife are in a much better location, but even here, the sky’s not quite the same. Let’s hope they can get the fires contained soon, although “authorities” are saying it’s going to be a few days more…