The Southern California wild fires have been overwhelming for thousands upon thousands. I’m safe here in Aliso Viejo, sleeping in my own bed. The smokey stench and sooty dust is everywhere, even here. But for more than 265,000 350,000 by some count, they’ve been evacuated all over. 655+ homes 1,300 homes and buildings destroyed. I’m not following the news closely, but I am praying.
See Yahoo News Full Coverage on the California Wild Fires for latest.
[update] Nate Ritter is keeping a live twitter feed as a help center with news & info for those affected by San Diego area wild fires. Los Angeles Times also uses a twitter feed for its late breaking news. Up-to-date info for San Diego area residents at sosdfireblog.blogspot.com by the San Diego Union Tribune.
How you can help: donate to fire relief via churches providing evacuee housing + see list of San Diego churches serving as help centers and evacuation centers
DJ — Glad to hear you guys are okay. We were forced to evacuate yesterday morning. Our family is safe, but we haven’t been back to our place yet. It sounds like our apartment complex is still standing, but we live in Rancho Bernardo — the neighborhood from which many of the national news crews are reporting. Hundreds of homes have been lost in RB alone. It has been really surreal to watch the very subdivisions where many of our church families live going up in flames on the news. We’re going to try to return home tomorrow.