Fire in the Hills

Tinder dry brush and grassland was just waiting to explode, begging Dante’s inferno to visit once again. Southern California is burning. Not a surprise when the Santa Ana winds start blowing off the desert.

Fire broke out this afternoon in the vicinity of Magic Mountain and high gusting winds are driving the smoke and debris westward across the northern segment of Simi Valley. The winds are not expected to abate before Wednesday. That means there is a good chance the flames will once again dance with the dreams of Simi Valley residents.

I got a call this evening from my archery club requesting assistance with a work party to clean up around the range in an attempt to lessen the pending damage. I jumped on my Kawasaki KLR 650 and headed out for the range. That was quite an adventure zooming along with the swirling ash looking very much as if I’d entered a snow storm. The wind tried its best to dump me unceremoniously off the bike. There was an incident or two when I was not all that sure that the wind was going to succeed and have its way with me.

There’s nothing much more to be done tonight. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.