THEY'RE BACK.....

It's that time of year again for the return of the flock of goats

 to eat up our dried out fire prone brush here on our nearby hillsides.

Are they called a flock?

I'm not sure.

Recently they broke away from the dogs

and ended up on our street,

and the handlers and dogs were having a heck of a time corralling them back 

onto the hillside.

LOL

I didn't get to see it firsthand but just heard about it.

Parents come from miles around to bring their children every year

 to see the goats and dogs in action.

The dogs are HUGE and impressive workers. 

These hills are notorious for catching on fire at least once every other year or so,

and devastating the neighborhoods that sit above them.

It's all about the views for these houses.

Two of our good friends lost their homes here a few years back 

because they were at work and weren't allowed in to help.

I drove home from work early and barely managed to get back home 

because many of the roads had been blocked off.

We then chose to stay and watered our roofs down.

We got lucky it didn't come our way.

This is a gorgeous part of the Southland here in Orange County,

but a dangerous place to live during the fire season.

We now have retired volunteers who sit in their cars and trucks

and watch for fires during the season.

Makes us feel a whole lot safer.

Sending out a BIG thank you to all of them!

AN ERRIE DAY

    Woke up to this yesterday,

named the Holy Jim Fire located in the Cleveland National Forest,

a mountainous range in Orange County near us.

It looks closer then it was thank goodness.

Shockingly,

 no smell or ashes,

just a very scary looking sky all day and night long.

As of 7:00 last night it had burned 500 acres

but luckily no homes or businesses. 

Today the fire fighters report that only 30 more acres were burned

due to the lack of winds spreading it. 

For once we got lucky. 

The past several days the Santa Ana winds had been a problem but had settled yesterday.

And tomorrow brings rain and possible snow.

We got lucky this time.

This is how it looked last night as the sun was setting at 5:30 or so.

Strange.

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU...

to the hundreds of Firefighters who risked their lives 

to save our homes from both the Canyon 1 & Canyon 2 Fires.

Both fires came at us so quickly and spread so fast,

it was truly a miracle that more homes weren't lost.

Very sadly,

 my friend, his wife and 4 children lost their entire home in the Canyon 2 fire.

In shock we watched it burn to the ground on the Channel 5 news 

as the firefighters tried their hardest to put it out.

Just devastating and shocking to watch as they lost everything.

Our community has banded together to collect necessities and monies for the families who lost all.

Hundreds of people,

 like my husband and I,

 drove down all our streets to see how close it was coming.

In both fires the winds changed directions and moved away from us.

Last weekend driving east along the 91 Fwy.,

the devastation and lost went on for miles.

We were astounded and had no idea how broad the wreckage was.

You are seeing pictures of the 1st fire when we were allowed to drive around.

This was down at our Ralph's center.

But during the second fire it was so much closer and all our streets were completely blocked off.

All the schools were evacuated along with our Ralphs.

It was like a ghost town

with police presence everywhere.

Almost everyone in our complex evacuated,

but my husband and I elected to stay with our home until forced out.

I was watering both our homes and walking out along our canyon rim to see how close it was getting.

Our kids were calling constantly telling us to leave,

but we can be pretty stubborn.

Eight years ago in the huge Yorba Linda Canyon Fire,

my ex, son and I packed all 3 of our cars to the brims because we were next on the list to evacuate.

Once again the winds changed directions and blew the fire towards Carbon Canyon

where it did even more crazy damage.

Five of our friends lost their homes in that fire.

It took over a year and a half to rebuild their homes while they lived out of local hotels.

They all looked like shell shocked concentration camp survivors.

Again,

the community stepped up to help them out as they got back on their feet.

Firefighters in all 3 of these fires came from all over the nation to help fight the fires.

And the people who refused to evacuate in that Yorba Linda fire 

were able to keep their homes from burning 

by constantly drenching them with water.

My son's best friend's mother was able to save her home by herself,

while the house next door to her burned to the ground.

In both Canyon 1 & 2 fires at least 6 choppers were alternating filling their water tanks 

from our reservoir

It was completely full from last years rains.

The 1st fire drained it by half, 

and the 2nd fire took most of the rest.

Hoping for a really big rainy season again this year to fill it back up.

Not only did the choppers fly constantly all day long but they continued into the night as well.

We were right under their flight path during both fires and could almost touch their hoses.

It was quite a sight,

something that I hope we will never see and experience again.

But as bad as our 2 fires were,

it was nothing compared to the lives, livelihoods and homes lost in the Napa Fires north of us.

I just heard today that they have that fire about 80% contained.

I even heard they brought firefighters in from Australia to help out in that one.

I'm so very thankful that once again our homes remained intact,

as we continue to live in this glorious canyon with all its wildlife and amazingly beautiful sunsets.