Smoke and Pictures
My sister Liz sent out an e-mail to her friends and family to update everyone en masse to their situation. See, my sister Liz, bro-in-law Randy and niece and nephew Lindsay and Miles live in Simi Valley, CA, one of the many cities that’s been ravaged by the fires you’ve been reading and seeing so much about.
To help you place Simi Valley, it’s about 45 minutes, without traffic, north-east from Downtown Los Angeles. From my home in North Hollywood, it’s a 30 minute drive up the 170, switching to the 5 freeway and then a drive down the 118 to Simi. I just brought up Yahoo! Maps and plotted a course to their house from mine and found it’s a 25 miles drive from here to there.
They live in the east end of Simi Valley, precisely the area that the fire is threatening. The fire’s come precariously close to their house and she shared some pictures of the area with everyone. All these photos were taken Sunday. Some are taken from around Simi Valley, some are views from their house. Pretty chilling stuff. Considering from the news you’re generally getting views from the air or news vans screaming through the charred remains of burnt communities, this gives you a bit of a different perspective. These pictures are taken by a home owner who’s just wondering, is mine next? Good news is the fire seems to have moved away from her house, but it’s not over yet.
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| View from the streets of Simi Valley. | Night shot. |
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| That’s the front of my sister’s house with the fire raging on the hill behind their house. | Down the street from Liz’s house. |
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| Another view from the front of my sister’s house with the fire in the background. | Night shot of people evacuating. |
