On my way to Palmdale this past Saturday, I drove right past the exact spot which is now charred and where fires are raging out of control. In fact, I drove in that spot almost exactly an hour before it began. Then, just a couple of hours later, there was so much smoke in the air that you would have been amazed. Now, there are over 4000 acres torched by this ravage.
It was about 3pm. I had just finished watching Anchorman with my friend Wendy and decided to make my way back home. It usually takes about 45 minutes to drive from Palmdale to Sylmar. As soon as I got onto the freeway in Lancaster (Palmdale’s sister city), visibility was immensely decreased from the smoke that drifted east from the Lake Hughes fire in the Angeles National Forest.
I quickly made my way up into the range pass in between Santa Clarita and Palmdale and I could see a huge cloud. I wasn’t sure if I was seeing it right, but as I drove closer I could tell this wasn’t just a small fire. I didn’t know how severe it really was until I got to the outskirts of eastern Santa Clarita. There was so much smoke and ashes in the air that the whole eastern half of the city couldn’t see the sun. I got closer to the 14 and Interstate 5 intersection when I noticed a crowd of red lights ahead of me. That’s when I decided to cross through the city to the other side of town to try and go south on the 5. In the city, there was so much traffic heading the opposite direction of me that I couldn’t believe my eyes. Miles of backups.
I come to find out that they shut down highway 14 shortly after I exited for a stretch of a few miles and if I had tried to go any further south, I would have been just as stuck. Interstate 5 was backed up in both directions as drivers were looking out to see the smoke trying to catch just one glimpse of fire and smoke.
I’ve read about wildfires but it amazes me to actually see one so close to home. Our house in the valley is in no danger because it’s on the other side of the foothills and the winds are headed north and east. But conditions were/are so dry and hot this weekend and week that I really don’t expect this fire to die too soon. I hope they can contain it soon but winds keep picking up to about 20mph at certain times.
So what is the cause of such a disaster? Southern California is in the middle of a 5 year drought. The last rain shower it has received was the exact day that I moved here, March 1. Since then, it’s been almost nothing but hot and dry weather everyday with tons of sunshine. The other reason this fire started, according to one news source, is that a red-tailed hawk hit power lines and caught fire. It obviously fell to the ground and caught some brush on fire.
Hey Seattle, can we borrow some of your rain?