Our Governor, and now President Bush, have declared Southern California a state of emergency. Some of you who don't live in So Cal might not have heard, but I was not kidding when I said that from Malibu to Tijuana, the hills are on fire. There is a weather pattern that comes through every fall known as the Santa Ana winds, and it blows fast and hot.
The last time I checked, over a half million people have been evacuated, over 2,500 homes have burned, and I lost count of how many hundred thousand acres have burned...
PLEASE PRAY for the heat to subside, the winds to die down, and that the firefighters can safely extinguish the blazes without any more loss of life.k
My own home and the homes of all the So Cal Xangans I can think of are all relatively safe for now. It is raining ash and the air quality is horrible, however.
(Can't even see Saddleback from here any more)
Nikon D200, Tokina 17mm, Polarizer, tripod
A lot of vertical images stitched together in Photoshop CS3
(My house is right underneath that trail of haze on the left)
Nikon D200, Tokina 17mm, tripod
Nikon D200, Sigma 50-150mm @ 50mm, tripod
(Actually most of the time the wind was blowing in the other direction, TOWARDS the city...)
Nikon D200, Sigma 150mm macro, tripod
Nikon D200, Tokina 17mm, tripod
Nikon D200, Sigma 50-150mm @ 85mm, tripod
Take care all, and please DO pray!
=Matt=
Comments (26)
Praying for everyone in SoCal. A lot of my friends are refugees in San Diego.
You made it up to TOW. (This is the fastest post I've ever seen you make too)
The night photo really captures how bad the Santiago fire is...for more info go to OCFA.org
:(
This is Barbara, mommyfish's daughter (aka daughterfish). The night pic is super impactful. :(
That night shot is spectacular -- thank you, Matt! Isn't it a shame that something so beautiful can be so destructive (or do I mean it the other way around? Maybe both!). Janet
Thanks for the post Matthew. We are praying....our Pastor was bold and said to pray for rain!! We have huge flames looking south from Dana Point......may be Penelton? No reports...hoping because it isn't near houses. Lord bless, Jenny
still hopein' for the best. the tustin fire came very very close to my bestfriend's sister's place...
it's about time the federal government responded...let's see what happens
Dude praying for the fires in California to stop is like praying that matchheads stop igniting. Coastal Southern California ain't nothin' but dust and tinder.
The four seasons of Socal: wildfires, earthquakes, riots and mudslides.
Skunk, you are very right, the hills around here do nothing but grow like crazy in the spring and then die and dry out in the summer and burn right about now. For now I'm just praying and hoping that it all ends without more loss of life...
Yes, Broncomom, the Santiago fire is CLOSE and BAD right now. I'm really hoping the wind dies tonight like they say it will, and that the cool humid air starts blowing again, because when it gets THAT bad there's often nothing the fire fighters can do except rescue people and help in evacuation efforts....
Thank you everyone for your concern and prayers! I'm going to update in a minute with two more pictures taken after I got back from Laguna Beach.
=Matt=
i'll be praying for you!
o man...those are cool images aside from the fact of all the chaos! i will be praying!
beautiful photos. Definitely praying for everyone.
OLJ! I've never seen anything like that before....and I had no idea it was that intense. Lord, be with all the families and homes in California!
The night shots really convey the seriousness of the situation. The fires are so ... massive. I hope they're able to contain it soon because, wow, that's awfully close to where all the city lights are.....
It's strange how utterly beautiful they are. My family just about pummeled me last night for saying so while watching the news... "Look! Look at that curl of flame. It's so beautiful."
I'm keeping you all in my prayers.
It IS beautiful... Within all the devastation.
Wait 'till you see my photos from this morning :-o
Just erie and I will continue to pray for all those affected
Daniel
we shall as well ...
I noticed one of your shots was taken with a macro lens. How does that work within the context of landscapes? I pray those fires will die down soon.
M-Man,
Looks like you live in Westlake Village on the water. Prayers for everyone who lives down south big time!
Those are beautiful shots -- hope you're still doing ok! It looks more and more ominous as time goes by, but at least they are predicting cooler, still weather for tomorrow! Janet
Hey there matt.
Hey, we can always go take pictures at the university of San Bernardino?
there's a fire there too.