Smoke and Orange glow

I feel like all of Santa Clarita is on fire....

If you've seen the news recently, I'm sure you've heard about all of the fires in southern California. Currently, there are 4 burning in our little valley. I described it to a friend like this... It's as if our town is in the middle of a bowl, and the rim of the bowl is on fire on every side.

We were awakened this morning at 5:30 am this morning when my brother called to say that the area where his 3 horses are boarded is now in the wake of a new fire. Bill left immediately to go help evacuate animals. As I sit here and type, I hear multiple helicopters in the night sky. The news is reporting that the helicopters are water dropping aircraft busy at work trying to put out this "new" fire near my brother's ranch. This is crazy because usually they don't do water drops in the dark... I'm not sure if the fact that they ARE doing them signals the severity of this particular fire or what. For those of you reading that want area specifics, this is over by Eternal Valley cemetery, near where San Fernando road meets Sierra Highway.

Bill's school (West Ranch High School) was surrounded by fire yesterday afternoon, but nothing was damaged. WEIRD watching air shots on the news of fire surrounding the tennis courts and baseball fields. I found the below picture online... it is of the neighborhood ("Westridge") that surrounds his school...Thankfully, that fire seems to be dying down and all is clear around the school and neighborhood.

Here are a couple pictures Bill took last night around 10pm of the "Magic fire", which is burning in the hills behind his school, and behind Magic Mountain.

You can see the famous red "Six Flags" tower in the lower left corner of the shot above. I think it is the "superman" ride that is right in the middle.



I guess I should clarify that as of now, our family (and our home) are in no danger.
We are surrounded (at a distance) on all sides by fire, but I REALLY don't think the fire would ever burn a path towards us. If it did, it would have to go through HUNDREDS of homes first.

Please pray for the firefighters who are exhausted, I'm sure. They've been working for about 48 hours straight, and I don't think there is any relief in sight. Pray also that the winds would die down soon- they are what is driving all of the flames.

I'll update later.