I drove up to the area of the last fires (Nov. 14-15) and took some photos.

No big surprise that some homes burned... as I've seen before in other areas, homes are built within feet of mountains and tall hills with a lot of brush. The first photo shows an example of this.

The next two photos shows homes next to each other. Both were burned, as can be seen.

The 4th photo shows another severely damaged home on another street.

The 5th photo shows a damaged home which is already being repaired (note the new garage door).

And the last photo shows a small burned area between two houses. Note here how close the foothills are in the back yard of these houses. Amazing how many homes were surrounded by fire and yet survived. No doubt this street had fire trucks up and down the street during the fire.

WOW! That is beautiful scenery. Hopefully those families will recover from the damage. I know a lot of homeowners insurance don't cover fires. Hopefully they had good insurance.

Yes, it is a scenic area, but there are risks.
I prefer enjoying the scenery from a little farther away... safer that way!

How many homes were damaged in this fire?

Yes, it is a scenic area, but there are risks.
I prefer enjoying the scenery from a little farther away... safer that way!


Is there anything you can do to fire proof the area? :eek: Stay safe.

How many homes were damaged in this fire?
A little over 500. Most of them were mobile homes; all of those were at one mobile home park.

The Nov., 1961 Bel Air fire burned 484 homes.

Is there anything you can do to fire proof the area? :eek: Stay safe.
Brush clearance is the best thing to do. Doing that has saved many homes.

But homes in certain areas (in mountains or canyons or hillsides) can never be completely safe. When 70 mph winds are blowing it is very hard to stop a raging brush fire.

this time of the year is horrible in southern california. :( it's horrible that so many families lost their homes in the fires.

Thanks for sharing the photos with us Fleet. It's horrible that so many families lost their homes in this fire.

this time of the year is horrible in southern california. :( it's horrible that so many families lost their homes in the fires.
Yes, a bad year for fires. I thought 1993 and 2003 were bad, but this year is just as bad as those years.

Thanks for sharing the photos with us Fleet. It's horrible that so many families lost their homes in this fire.
Yes, so many lost homes.
I may drive up their again in a week or so because I didn't see all of the burn area.

Yes, a bad year for fires. I thought 1993 and 2003 were bad, but this year is just as bad as those years.
Worse fire season for us, here in San Diego was in 2003 and last year, 2007. It was a terrible feeling being stuck in a motel room, wondering if your home was going to survive. Fortunately for me, the fires did not reach the I-5 freeway; but the fire got pretty close, reaching as close as Rancho Santa Fe, which is only less than five miles away from my neighborhood.

Nice photos, Fleet. You really have a knack for photography. That was quite a fire. The fires I really hate are forest fires, when so many animals/wildlife die.

Fleet, is that a Lincoln you're driving? :shocked