Southern California Wildfires Producing Thick Smoke

Altadena, California -- Early Sunday morning, November 16, the first ever Pasadena marathon was canceled due to the heavy smoke covering the region from wildfires to the northwest and southeast. Race officials consulted air quality officials and chose before the 6:30am start time to cancel the marathon, half-marathon, 5K and bike race due to the unhealthy air quality.

While in the Pasadena-Altadena areas, we're fortunate to not have destructive blazes in our immediate areas the smoke still hangs thick.

Sunday morning started out sunny and the peaks leading to Mount Wilson above our house in Altadena were completely clear. If you weren't watching the news on television or reading the paper there would not be any evidence of fire. I got up and, being a runner myself but not entered in the race, I wanted to catch a glimpse of the event. But when I headed toward the 14 mile mark and I saw cars on the streets instead of blockades I knew what had happened. I changed and then we drove our 2 ½ miles to church along the 210 freeway and the sky looked normal, but by the time we stepped out around 11am the smoke was hanging heavier in the air. We were having my wife's family to a Sunday afternoon dinner as an early Thanksgiving gathering since our plans are to be out of town.

We were going to show off the new patio our boys and I had built in our backyard. But by noon the smell of smoke grew heavier and light ashes slowly floated to the yard. My sister-in-law who brought the hot dogs and hamburgers to grill said "Parts of Diamond Bar have caught fire."

Apparently, embers drifted from Yorba Linda and Anaheim Hills several miles north to the community of Diamond Bar along the 57 freeway and began burning.

Pasadena, home to the Rose Bowl, and neighboring Altadena are located in the geographic center of where a number of the fires are raging. Sylmar is about 23 miles to the west-northwest. A little farther west is Granada Hills. Tonight, to the north about 30 miles there's a fire raging out of control in Placerita Canyon along the 14 freeway near the Santa Clarita Valley.

To the east, about a 35-minute drive is Diamond Bar while Yorba Linda and Anaheim Hills are to the southeast. Fire has also struck beyond Anaheim Hills in Corona which is about 50 miles south and east. The television stations tonight are running the totals of homes destroyed and damaged: Sylmar more than 600 structures destroyed; Montecito (near Santa Barbera) 111 homes destroyed; another several dozen homes and apartments units are also destroyed in Yorba Linda, Anaheim Hills and Corona. Many more homes still remain threatened.

This afternoon, by the time family members left, there was a pale orange hue in the sky and the mountains that rise above our home were no longer visible. The sun setting to the west had a deep red hazy glow. On our evening walk, the smell of smoke remained heavy. Yet, it could lift again during the overnight hours and perhaps tomorrow will be more clear.

Southern California, with the complex freeways, beautiful homes, awesome mountains and beautiful beaches, will always be vulnerable to the most primitive of elements - fire.