at around 230am on sunday morning
my cell phone went off
what the heck i said to myself
all blurry eyed i read the text
which i somehow deleted after i read it
it said i think there is a mandatory evacuation for the thomas fire
at least thats what i thought it read
i was blurry eyed after all
so into the living room i went
off went the lights
off went the wifi
all i had was cell service
and
for some reason it was real slow
what i call
country living slow
blinking off and on the wifi and tv would never have a
chance to come on to full power
i would have to rely on the country slow cellphone
now this was at 230am
eventually
the lights quit blinking and going off
the tv came on long enough an hour or so later
to see the local station doing live coverage
which they continued all day into last night
then
another text
oops that was a mistake text we sent out
the mandatory evacuation was just for
the eastern part of the county
which includes montecito where folks like rob lowe
ellen jeff bridges oprah julie dreyfus etc live
they had to evacuate
as my relative described the fire map
it looked like a pac man
with the open mouth with santa barbara in its mouth
it just hadnt chomped down on it yet
later in the day another warning came out
the evacuation mandatory and volunteer had been extended
all away across santa barbara on the northern part
along the foothills of the mountains
santa barbara sits between the ocean and the mountains
so i got on google maps where the evacuation map was
there on the southwest corner was the santa barbara mission
something my wife she and i walk to from our condo
about 5 blocks away
thats when i told my wife she
well i guess its time for us to pack our bags
to be ready to go if they drop the evacuation on top of our place
first thing in the morning i moved both cars out of the garage
into the street since the electricity was going off and on
all day as the fire damaged the electric lines in the mountains
it seemed during the night the santa ana winds somehow shifted our
way and the thomas fire took off
fast
real fast
as of this morning
it has burned over 230000 acres and will soon be the largest fire
ever in the history of california
it will be a few weeks before it is fully contained
yesterday it lost containmenet
going from 15% to 10%
the schools are closed until after january 1st
the universities have delayed finals until then
a lot of folks have left going south or north
our plan is to go either north or south if we have to evacuate
which we plan to do if the voluntary evacuation area drops
down on us
the worst part right now is the poor air quality
it looks like we have had an austin snow fall everywhere
i have learned how to properly fit a n95 mask to keep it out of
my lungs
now ive worn masks for surgeries and deliveries hundreds of times
but
this mask needs to be sealed in a 360 degree circle around the
mouth and nose
we all look like we are about to do surgery
we look like china at its worse air pollution
i notice
the almost constant burning of the eyes
burning in the throat
some mild wheezing with an occasional cough
if thats all i have to deal with its ok with me
the winds are suppose to pick up again
so
when that happens the fire will take off again
its like its taking a breather
before it races up and down the hills around here
i must say
folks around here sort of take this in stride
they seemed to know what to do and are prepared
like
if you live in tornado alley
or in a hurricane area
we have developed a high respect for the fire services
i think often of my younger brother and my nephews
who are or were fireman
i dont know
this may be something i cant get used to
a tornado or a thunder storm just sails right over
then you are done
thats
not the way this fire stuff works
we feel safe
we will leave if we have to
the organicgreen doctor
