I’m so worried about my California readers. I keep telling y’all you are going to fall into the ocean but now I am worried about you DYING IN A FIRE! (Um, not to make light of it,but the whole GDIAF still kind of cracks me up. Sorry. Wrong time.) So please DO NOT DIE IN A FIRE!
Check in with us! We are all worried about you. I’m not informed on where all the fires are. In Atlanta we are inundated with rain. I wish I could send it to you guys. It’s just making me very, very, very sleepy and Banjo hates getting wet and I finally got him outside to do his thing.
So check in California. Let us know how you are doing. xo ~tt
Not in CA, but joining TT in her well wishes. I just happened to turn on the news (something I almost never do) and saw the horrible videos. Prayers for you guys.
Echoing your and TT’s sentiments- we have family and friends there, some of whom are awaiting evacuation orders – be safe, all of you. This awesome community is sending you prayers and all things positive.
All my peeps in CA are safe, thank goodness!!!??
TT, if you have Netflix and need a laugh, please watch “Dolomite”!!! That shit is funny as hell. I remember singing his rhymes in the 70’s as a kid, but had no clue who he was, or where that vulgar shit I was saying came from, just knew my mom had hidden those records for a reason, along with her Red Foxx albums, so it HAD to be good!!!! LOLOLOL
The Other Shay: I highly second that recommendation! I was fortunate enough to meet Rudy Ray Moore after his (FANTASTIC!!) set in a small club in Indiana about thirty years ago when I was in college, and he is just as delightful and dirty in person. He was generous with autographs and hugs too. Also, I had parents who hid the Redd Foxx records in the closet too! But my pops was such a huge Sanford and Son fan that when I found them while snooping I was curious what else Fred Sanford could do. I played the shit out of them when they were not home!
One NYE, my then-boyfriend surprised me with a Dolomite New Year’s. It was THE BEST.
Thank you for thinking of us. It’s getting worse every year. Scary times.
I am hoping you are safe… How are you?
I am doing well…luckily I was not evacuated, tho many friends were.. Most were able to return today to smoky / ash covered homes. We are lucky to have such organized cities with amazing fire fighters and incredible citizen volunteers. I don’t know if you saw the horses that random horse owners with trailers rescued in the Simi Valley…absolutely incredible! Hope you are well. I enjoy your blog very much. Makes me laugh and you are so damn witty!
I will check in as a California person far from the fires. I know there are several commenters in SoCal. I don’t know what part Kipper is in.
This is year three of horrible fires. I hope this is the last year for a long time and not the New Normal California.
I’m in Northern AZ and although we had a couple of bad ones our fire season was relatively ok this year. That said, we had a very dry monsoon season so it is very dry here now, fingers crossed we get a lot of snow this year.
Thoughts and prayers for our people in CA at this time, I limit my viewing to just updates because it is so scary. Touch base with us when you can, xxoo
Checking in from San Francisco. I live in the city & work in Marin county. Power outage has kept the school I work for closed past 3 days. Respiratory issues for our household but so fortunate to not be displaced as many of my coworkers in Sonoma & Santa Rosa. Very sad situation. On repeat. Thanks for checking. Love me some TT!
I’m in the No Cal Sierra Foothills, our power just came on at 4:30pm after 5 entire days, and eleven days total in October. We had no fires here but it was a bit scary during the wind warnings (even though we had no wind, there was lots of studying how far away the fires were, and wondering whether the wind could blow it to us during the night). Most of our troubles were only due to being without power. Although most people here have wood stoves for heat, many homes have electric water pumps and there are going to be a lot of hot showers happening tonight. I’m now trying to decide which thawed out item from my freezer to cook tonight. It’s weird, the ice cubes are solid but the meat is all thawed!
I just moved from the foothills. I lived in Auburn, ca close to Grass Valley. After that Paradise Fire I was just done. All the insurance companies were started to cancel policies. I lived in an area where there was basically one way out. All oak trees. You know how dry that is in October. I have a ton of friends there still and pray for them every day. I will include you in my prayers and hoping you get some early rain to get everything nice and wet.
I am shocked that Southern California Edison didn’t cut power more often and for longer periods. I would gladly go without power than go through the hassle and trauma of evacuating with my kids.
The Grass Valley area is so beautiful. I’m sorry you had to leave.
The Getty fire is the closest to LA. I’m about 8 miles away from the Getty. Now there is another fire in Simi Valley. The news has been on all day. I’m hoping everybody is safe and well.
It’s so up & down. Seems endless. And fires in areas that no one would ever have thought (Fullerton??) I think it’s bringing out the nutcases. My home is safe, as best I can guess. but I have several friends who are evacuated. SiL is in LAFD academy with 50something others, all transfers from other fire depts. LA is so short handed they are pushing these guys thru in less than 1/2 the normal time to get boots on the ground.
E Sacramento here. Not close to the fires but many friends 15 minutes away toward Placerville with no electricity. ( a few just got theirs on after 5 days). My cousin in Santa Rosa evacuated for the 2nd time in a year due to fires.
I’m from Santa Rosa and had to evacuate at 4 am on Sunday. Just got power back a couple of hours ago so I can finally use my phone for more than just emergencies! It’s been scary and the air quality is terrible but now I can watch some mindless tv while running my air filter. I am sad I missed the Guidice interview and WWHL with Dodd and Glanville but I’ll just hope for reruns!!
Checking in from Northern California. Been evacuated 5 days. Evac orders just lifted today so we will go home tomorrow. PG&E turned off our gas on Sunday so while we have power, no cooking or hot water but our house is standing!! So no complaints. Scariest 2 days of my life though. Insurance has been great. We are at an embassy suites 1 hour from home with the dog who is not a fan of hotel life. No bravo so relying on your recaps!
Which hotel let you bring your dog? I like to reward them with my business and word of mouth.
Hampton Inn take dogs
Please stay safe all of you in harms way. We have some amazing firefighters working so hard, some doing 24 hour shifts.
Are you in SoCal?
Florida transplant who currently lives in Fremont. My home isn’t near the fires but I know people in the affected areas. My husband traveled to LA for business today and shared photos of the fire from the plane and it was heartbreaking. My thoughts and prayers goes out to everyone affected by the wild fires and to the first responders who are doing their best to keep the fires under control.
I’m in the Orange County area. We haven’t been affected yet but one of the freeways In the area was shut down earlier. The wind gets really bad here which is why i we get fires (I always imagine it’s some idiot who throws out their half smoken cigarette just to light up another one). Once It took me 5 hours to get home It can get bad sometimes! Thank you for thinking of us and bring the amazing reads/shade!
UPDATE: 7:30am west coast time: another fire broke out in San Bernardino. I live within 20 miles outside of SB and smell outside it terrible! my former college is right near the mountain area near the fire. The school was already planning on closing down because of the wind but now even more from the fire
So far, San Diego has been ok. Lots of power outages due to winds in our east county and mountain areas. Precautions due to possible downed power lines.
I’ve read your site forever, TT, but never commented. But I suppose watching this city I love burn has me feeling some type of way. I moved to Los Angeles from New England 10 years ago, and it’s scary how much the climate – and therefore life – has changed. We have rain these recent winters, more often than I can remember – which brings beautiful flowers in spring. But in the summer, or when it’s dry, the potential for a fire is no joke. Right now we have the Santa Anas – winds that are ripping this further along. And it’s weird how much we adjust here when we shouldn’t. Three weeks ago I went camping while East Los Angeles burned. Woke up to the haze and smell of smoke – mouth dry. Our power companies are inept, and the occasional arson or half lit cigarette now threatens our entirety.
I have many coworkers evacuated, but I am thankfully safe. My heart breaks for the animals, who look terrified and tired. I feel so thankful and grateful to the men and women of the fire department for working tirelessly to keep us safe.
Here in North Hollywood, these fires have been all around us and yet truly nowhere near us, but it’s terrible to hear from co-workers past and present about how and when they’ve been evacuated.
I just read an interesting article in The Atlantic about how the pressures of affordable housing pushed home building to the “wildlife-urban interface” (WUI), and many times (but not always) the homes in danger are those in WUI zones.
It stinks when, for 10-11 months the world feels figuratively on fire, but during Oct-Nov, it locally literally is on fire. :/
Fires are everywhere. Just called my husband a FUCKIBG idiot. Yay me
California here, had hellacious winds today, but thankfully no flare ups near me. Everyone I know is safe, maybe in the dark but ok.
Yeah I’ve done some research associated with fires, almost became my thesis topic. I know where I lived up north in farm country, there are pocket communities of housing tracks with grassland filled hillsides. Many in SF people are priced out of affordable housing and commute from my neck of the woods, when invasive non-native grasses go up like nothing. It’s a complicated issue that’s for sure.
When I lived in socal it always seemed to be an arson incident, but up here, nothing I’ve every experienced before.
Sending Love… I cannot imagine what you are going through.
I can’t imagine what it would feel like to have to evacuate, and know I could be returning to ashes. Sending prayers of protection to all affected.
Sending love to Cali from Florida. I am devastated for all who are affected by these fires and hope for a miracle that the fires are out soon! Stay safe, TT peeps in Cali! <3 Prayers to Saint Francis for all the wildlife and fur babies who are affected!
Surrounded on all sides by fire… air quality is terrible, but safe for all intents and purposes. Thanks for thinking of us!
Y’all. I have no words. I am not sleeping well tonight and I woke up to all of these comments.. I am thankful to be safe in my little ghetto shack with Banjo. I wish I could bring you all here.
Power came on today after 5 days of no power. Community safe and evacuations have been lifted. Sonoma County
Thanks for the update, Erin. Stay safe.
Three friends lost everything — except pets and saved neighbor pets — in Paradise last year. Now we know it was PG&E’s fault. In Sacramento, we have Sacramento Municipal Utilities District for electric and PG&E for gas. SMUD is not-for-profit and owned by the community. We need A/C here in the summer. I always toughed it out in the Bay Area, so I can’t make a comparison. But I know that I paid SMUD between $80-120 during the summer of 2019, my mom paid $350-400 in 2010 to PG&E. I don’t know what it would cost nine years later, but I think the rates have gone up 30-40%. The mayor of San Jose is pushing for a switch to a SMUD-type plan. I think ALL of the PG&E customers should. After the San Bruno explosion (2006?), PG&E KNEW its equipment needed overhauling. It did nothing.
There is a really interesting “Frontline” on PBS about the Paradise fire and PG&e’s responsibility. We are on pg&e for electric but have propane since we are rural and our bill had gotten over $500 and I was hanging out my washing to air dry. And. This was with no a/c. We decided to go solar. It’s amazing how satisfying it is to write that ten dollar check to pg&e. I hope the people of our state hold this company accountable for all the damage they’ve inflicted upon us.
Sending prayers to all affected in the fires! I’ve dealt with hurricanes, devastating floods, tornadoes and earthquakes, but the fires are scary AF. I can’t even imagine. Please be safe, y’all. Again sending many prayers!
I’m in Roseville, just east of Sacramento and we are fine. We’re on our local electric company too, thank god. I have a lot of friends in the foothills who have been without power since Saturday night. Some friends in Sebastopol were just allowed back home a few days ago.
It’s our new normal come October, almost like a new season.
I’m in CA but thankfully, nowhere near the fires. However, even when we are a good 8 hours away from Southern CA, the winds have been carrying the smoke and it smells like the whole world is barbecuing…and not in a good way. People are wearing masks because of poor air quality.
What’s hurt most of us who are lucky enough NOT to be in the fire zone, have been the power outages. And the threat of more power out in even more neighborhoods. Suddenly having no lights, no hot water, and no heat, when the nights have turned bitterly cold is a new kind of miserable. Every day, we check in with the power company trying to figure out if and when we are going to lose power.
People are buying generators, lining up at gas stations like in the Rationing Days, and generally buying out entire supplies of batteries, portable lights, and food that can be eaten without having to cook it. It’s like a weird war-zone, with everyone preparing for “battle” and lining up to purchase must-have and need-to-have goods and services.
But again, we are safe. At least there’s that.
Thoughts and prayers to all those affected in all different ways due to these fires.
They are like scary monsters.
My family is safe, but my sister’s wife sends pics on her way to work and its become almost normal seeing a fire.
My mom has been through it last year so i know if need be there are homes to evacuate to.
Everyone stay safe. Xo
(I remember as a kid coming out of elementary school with ashes blowing around. Just a scary, scary thing)
I live in Crockett and the power went out for a moment but it’s been nothing like the north bay!! My Dad is in Santa Rosa and my sister in Sonoma, my mom in Kenwood- they were out of power for like 4 days! It was lifted last nite but who knows for how long.
Anyway the one thing I think everyone should buy is a lantern flashlight! That practically lights up a room!
I am in So CA and it is really bad. Day after day of tv live at a different fire line. I lived for about ten years in Thousand Oaks and I know people who barely got their horses out, they had to evacuate horses to the Ventura County Fairgrounds, and it ended up being full. I used to bike ride right up to the Reagan library, and they had done a fire break right to the property line, a bunch of goats chewed brush up there for months. If you look at CA from the air, lots of it is really dry and brown, so historically we have always had fires here. But so many people want to move here, and then developers build homes out into the foothills, it’s just too difficult to protect those areas. I guess you have to be rich enough as Kanye and Kim to hire private firefighters.
Prayers and love to all of you. I wish there were a way that the great minds of the world could figure out how to capture some of our Florida humidity and contain it, move it out West, and have it on reserve to spread over the state of California from time to time to level out the atmosphere. Please keep checking in, folks. We are all worried about you!
Agree. I feel terrible complaining about all the rain here. I wish I could send it our west. 🙁
I live just south of the Simi Valley Fire (Easy) and evacuated yesterday with my kids. Husband stayed at the house and kept an eye on things. We are due south of the Reagan Library, but the wind was blowing southwest, so we were good. We were on the very edge of the voluntary evacuation zone, so now I feel like I over reacted by leaving, but last year’s fire (Woolsey) in our area really freaked me out and I’m still traumatized. I feel tense whenever I hear the winds blow. . I had friends who were in the mandatory zone, too, but they never left and are now fine.
It has really quieted down today and focus has shifted to new fires. My heart goes out to all those affected.
I think it was very wise of you to get the kids out of there. The smoke alone is enough reason to get away for a bit. My heart goes out TO YOU. Be safe. Keep your babies close. And update us when you can.
We returned yesterday afternoon and unpacked last night. It seemed weird to unpack so soon when the wind was still strong, but the fire wasn’t moving our direction and the fire fighters seemed to have a good handle on it.
Today is calm and clear and just a bit breezy, as usual. We are taking the kids trick or treating soon. Just like normal.
Love your sight and your wit and your huge heart. ❤️
My thoughts and prayers are with all of you. I saw a video in Simi Valley – this thoroughbred goes back into the blaze to get his family. The stallion horse went in with such certainty, gathered his family and left. It just goes to show whether we are human, a dog, cat, horse etc, we all love.
Hope this passes quick and everyone is safe. xo
Sequoia can not be killed by fire. All is well
OMG! THIS IS THE BEST THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME IN YEARS! I’ve missed you so MUCH. xoxoxoxoxooxox
Boo to you too… xoxoxo
/happyplace
Is in SoCal too. Got one alert and someone pounding on the door that I thought meant I had to evacuate. My heart goes out to those who have been without power and have been evacuated. The wind gusts were horrible yesterday. Is worried for friends near Somis.