Southern California Wildfires Testing Resolve

As the Santa Ana winds push westward towards Southern California on Monday night, hundreds of thousands of residents have fled from the wildfires in the San Bernardino National Forest where winds are guiding the fire toward and into residential areas. Governor Schwarzenegger has declared seven counties to be in a state of emergency. Homes are destroyed and memories lost as firefighters battle on. Though this kind of occurrence is not abnormal, it is still a disturbance and major concern for residents both near and far. It is also an ongoing war for the firefighters trying to put it out.

While some people have been affected by these fires through the loss of their personal possessions and memories that can never be replaced, there are many more who are miles away from the inferno who are dealing with, what seems to be, a never ending cloud of smoke. Ash falls from the sky as a warning of what may come. Loved ones are hard to reach as the State has recommended people use their cell phones as little as possible and cell towers seem to have been affected, according to some locals. While people are being evacuated from their homes, there are others who have been evacuated from their job sites and wait to here whether or not evacuating their homes will be next.

According to the Cal Fire website, which had so much traffic and updates coming in it took over 10 minutes on cable internet to load, there are thirteen different fires being fought. While three are 30-60% contained, the majority of the fires are less than 15% contained. With over 98,000 acres burning, the California State firefighters have their work cut out for them. The battle began October 20^th with the Ranch fire located "six miles north of Castaic in Los Angeles County," reports the website, with the most recent flame up occuring in Portrero located in San Diego County on the 22nd at 10 am. Counties affected, according to the website are as follows: Los Angeles County, San Diego County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County, Orange County and Santa Barbara County.