Fireside chat with the coffee ladies.

We woke to warm temperatures and winds up to 41 mph here in So Cal.  Anyone who has lived in this area knows that is a bad combination. by 6:30 a.m we had a fire burning on the Conejo Grade along side the 101 freeway. I went for my morning walk at the park, but left early as the wind was blowing dust in my eyes and my hat of my head. On the way home I saw this.

 Not good. The cell phone rang and it was my friend Ann, one of the coffee ladies. She had a birds eye view of the fire so, over I went.

plane spotter Ann

 Now this fire is about 5 or so miles away, some of my pictures may be fuzzy, just shooting with my point and shoot. Some I zoomed in to show the flames, some with no zoom, so you could see the height of the smoke.

 The white building lower left of the photo...that's where Lycra man works. One by one Ann and I were joined by other coffee ladies, Martha, Katie and Lianca. Two of them had to leave to pick up their kids as the Newbury Park High was being evacuated.

 We heard on the news that Dos Vientos housing area was being evacuated, another coffee lady lives there, Clair got 2 text and 1 call all from us. She was packing to leave,but had not been instructed to go yet. She sent me this text ( me green, her not green) and then pictures of what was happening in her neighborhood.

this is one of the water dropping helicopters flying over Claire.

Claire's house, by the fire plug, see her car backed in and ready to go?

This area is as steep as a cows face as my granny would have said. The fire guys do structure protection, on the ground in the neighborhoods and in the air , with the water dropping helicopters and the fixed wing tankers like this.

 

 See the tanker dropping the Phos-Chek

see the chopper lower left hand corner

 See the dragon in the smoke cloud

water dropping chopper

more Phos-chek

zoomed in this time

Paco, Ann's dog watching the fire

 At the time I made this post the fire had burned 6,500 acres , form 6:30 in the morning to noon. The wind was blowing so hard the tankers were grounded. The fire had left coffee lady Clair's area and moved down into the agricultural area. the fire fighters thing it will burn all the way to the Pacific ocean, to the left of Paco up there.

So fa,r no one has been hurt and no homes have been lost. Thank goodness for the Ventura County firefighters!