This was the scene about 10 miles north of us last night. Whee!
It's hard to get a real sense of something like a fire or I suppose any disaster from just watching it on TV. But I knew that in the morning I'd drive right past on my way to yoga. I didn't take any pictures on the way in, I was too busy trying to keep my car on the road in the dark and going HOLY SHIT, LOOK AT THAT, OH NO FUCK.
This is later, on Haley Street in Santa Barbara this morning. Basically you're seeing a bunch of million-dollar homes go up in smoke and miraculously no one has died. The attitude seems to be, Fuck 'em, they're rich, they're insured. But mixed in with all the privilege is some true old funk up there in the hills, artists, hippies, teachers. Lost pets. And if it comes over the hill and into the east side of town, that's not rich people.
Jack's current job site has a 50-50 chance of burning up, and he also stands to lose a couple of pieces of possibly under-insured construction equipment. Plus the job he just finished, where they had the fancy wedding, is in the evacuation zone.
However, one man's tragedy is his contractor's economic stimulus package.
Local updates: KEYT, The Independent