Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Hellfire

 Wed--Kwei


With Southern California engulfed in flames, some close to my home in Pasadena, I didn't have much time to post, but I captured a few scenes photographically. Where I am in Pasadena at the moment, it doesn't look like we will need to evacuate, but in stark irony, the area where my recently sold home is dangerously close to the Eaton Fire, and if I was still living there, I would have been under evacuation order.

This once-in-a-hundred-year event is fueled by tinder-dry conditions (rainfall has been 0.2 inches for the region this season) and the powerful hurricane-force Santa Ana Winds, immortalized in the masterpiece Chinatown starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. Buoyed by the wind, embers may travel miles before landing on a house or dry vegetation. This partly explains the apparent randomness of the fire in some neighborhoods.

Dark, smoky horizon east of me 



Downed trees from the wind





The apocalyptic area of the Eaton Fire in Altadena that you see on TV







This home is smoldering, while the structure next door is untouched



Hoping for better news tomorrow morning. It has been a traumatic time for many in SoCal. Not to be too cynical, but boy, 2025 hasn't started out too well!

2 comments:

  1. Glad you are okay, Kwei. We had a terrible fire in Knysna where I now live about ten years ago. Few experiences are more frightening.

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  2. Kwei. So glad you didn't have to evacuate. We thought we were going to have to last night because of the Sunset Fire, but it seems better now. Sending every good wish to you and a shared grief for our city.

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