Hmmm, my heart breaks for all of the people & animals being threaten by the fires.

Jay Zee, so does mine.

Well my heart breaks for all the people and animals in the line of the various fires also. But thank God for our firefighters. And with the heat, the heavy firefighting outfits they have to wear, the hard work and the very very smoky air..well I am not the only one that considers them heros.

Here is the link for the current conditions of the Gallery and Basin Complex Fire that is in Big Sur.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/lospadres/conditions/

From what I can interpret, I don't think the Complex Basin will be contained anytime soon. This is the fire closest to the Hwy 1 and the coast.

LoveItaly,
You need a well deserved vacation.

Tam,
Hope you can still take your trip in 3 weeks.

Hi andrew8, yes I would sure love to get away from here but it is not possible. But I know there is worse air in other areas. I was afraid it was going to be a long hot summer with many fires as we had the driest season in recorded history. And I read more electrical storms are predicated, sigh. We need a good rain storm!

HI LI & andrew-
Smoky, hazy conditions here in
southern Sonoma County. We have the windows shut and fans on "low"
throughout the house. This is nearly the same as last Thursday when we hit 102 degrees, except the fans were on "high".

Heard on the news last night the
Gov. may ban fireworks sales -
I sure hope he does - the only green I see from my deck is vineyards - the rest is buff brown hills, everywhere - the area is a tinder box.

I know your heart breaks for Everyone impacted by these fires, LI - I say thank goodness for the firefighters, too ! It's so early in the season, it will be a major physical endurance test for all of them - I surely hope that when folks are told to evacuate that they do so. I can relate to the
"cat carriers next to the front door". You have to be pretty calm homeowner while scooping up the kitties or they will hide under beds or deep in closets just when you only have minutes to leave. Been there...

Here's a link for tam, andrew and others - you can put in the zip code
of where you will be visiting
Monterey is 93940-TTess knows of others in the area.

http://weather.cbs5.com

Wishing for a rain.

R5

Hi there Razzle. I just got home. I was thinking of you two and wondering how you were doing. I have never seen this before..some people out and about were wearing paper masks.
A tinderbox indeed. For a bit the wind came up which caused concerns but it seems calm here now. Take care and stay inside if possible. Sending you a hug!

Hi Razzle,
Hope the smoke clears up in your area soon and more importantly that no fires flare-up in your area.

LoveItaly,
Hang in there! Wishing you the best.

Hi Love & andrew
Yes, I saw masks on some folks around here today as well.
I understand they declared the air
quality as "Hazardous" in Solono,
Contra Costa, Alameda, Sonoma & Marin counties for today.

For us, the fog came in around 5 PM
so it didn't smell quite so bad.
Did you see the sun between 5-8 PM
tonight ? It was glowing a hot red-orange ! Something to see against those gray skies.

Thanks for your good wishes and the same back to you !

R5

This article posted tonight on LA Times website

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,1270531.story

Highway 1 is still closed but they interviewed some Euro-tourists who were surprised by this fact.

That's horrible news about the fire moving closer to Big Sur. The latest update from the National Park service should out be out soon.
I just read that the fires were very close to Deetjens :( I guess it's easy to tell that Big Sur has a special to me from many previous visits.

Oh, no, not Deetjen's. I couldn't bear to lose that place. Andrew, so many good times there over the years for us, too. We took scads of photos there this month and I've been putting together an album of it the last few days--how ironic. Deetjen's--hang on!!

Razzle mentioned the sun..here is a photo from the Vallejo Time Herald with a photo of the sun which yes, that is how it is looking.

http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_9698744

Beautiful but scary!

For those who are seeing and smelling the smoke, I would take the health warnings seriously. It may be anecdotal or coincidence, but I think it can affect your ability to fight off colds and flu the following year.

I know more than a few people who have had extra tough winters with lingering chest congestion following the two San Diego fires.

So be careful and if you already have lung issues, I would even consider getting out of town if at all possible. It's the stuff you can't even see that's the worst.

Hellon mlgb, I agree. I am worried about a dear friend. She gets bronchitis every winter and is always ill for over a month. She, much to my dismay, was out and about without any good reason for hours today. She won't listen to how this is not a good idea, sigh.

Heartbreaking, worrisome. Another hellish summer in the making on each coast, seems like.

So sad re: Julia Pfeiffer Burns SP, one of my favorite go-to places out there.

Best wishes to all, please take care.

Razzle, aren't fireworks already illegal in the whole State? They certainly are here in San Diego. I think the Governor was talking about cancelling commercial fireworks shows, a good idea IMO.

I'm in Stanislaus County and the air here is miserable. Very unhealthy for anyone. The "safe and Sane" fireworks are not banned all over California. I agree with the Governor.... I'm not buying any this year. Fireworks stands are up and sales begin Saturday. I know it's a huge fundraiser for a lot of groups here, but we just can't take any more smoke!! I have not been grilling this week either. I'll be in Reno for the 4th. I wonder how it will be there. Everyone please take care, heed the warnings and Bless the firefighters.

Sorry for all of this living in the unhealthy air conditions.
It looks like the Big Sur Fire won't be contained anytime soon :(

I could believe the picture I saw yesterday of the smoke filled sky line over San Francisco Bay.

mean to say couldn't believe