In the Midst of California Wildfires

Living in suburbia as I do, it’s not often that I see the effects of rampant wildfires. Earlier this summer when NorCal was experiencing a large number of fires in Big Sur, Santa Cruz, Napa, Paradise, and further north, we did have some smoky skies and for some, travel plans were interrupted. While I did report on these events in my weekly round-up, I did not give them too much thought.

Fast forward to today. I am in San Diego County looking at retirement property. When doing research over the last two months, I remember finding out that one of the cities we would be checking out, Fallbrook, was a fire site in 2007, with mandatory evacuation of the whole town. I wondered how often that had happened and if I should be concerned. Today, I sit and watch the black smoke of wildfire curl up into the sky from multiple fires burning a few miles away at Camp Pendleton. Initially there was mandatory evacuation in parts of Oceanside, the city next to where I am staying. That has since been lifted, but it serves as a notice to me to be more aware of this potential hazard of certain towns, located near large expanses of open space and trees.

While wildfire is one of the downsides to living near national parks and open spaces, it seems more prevalent than the earthquakes we worry about on a continual basis in the Bay Area. My brother, living outside Los Angeles, deals annually with the fires inflamed by the whipping Santa Ana winds (which is also happening right now). They have yet to evacuate in the ten years of living in La Canada, but each fall they are effected by the smoke: windows and doors shut tight, ash in the air and covering everything, closed freeways blocking commuter routes, and air quality so poor that soccer games need to be cancelled.

Being in the midst of this type of natural disaster, seeing news reports, and smelling the destructive fires distinct aroma, causes me to pause and ponder. Over the years I have developed a sense that no matter where we live there will be something looming; hurricanes in Florida have caused friends to flee north, family in Missouri regularly takes shelter in their underground bunker during tornados, and rising rivers cause floods throughout the land. And if you are lucky enough to live where a major natural disaster isn’t likely to strike, chances are you have a regularly occurring annoyance, like hundreds of feet of snowfall per year. I think the key is to acknowledge it, prepare for it, and expect it, not letting your guard down.

Recently we prepared our living trust, wills, and advanced directives. We have compiled all our important papers, along with these, for easy grab and go. Family heirlooms (not gold and diamonds, but sentimental trinkets handed down) and well as family photos, are all in one place, and computers are laptops, easy to scoop up on the run. The rest is replaceable, more or less.

I don’t think this latest reminder will make me reconsider this area, but I’m glad it happened while I was here so that it can factor into a decision.