While I'm here in the Midwest taking care of family business my beloved Sonoma County is burning. My wife, just a week post surgery, saw the orange glow over the Calistoga hills and had just a couple minutes to flee. She was able to grab the satchel with titles, insurance papers, and legal documents. Got two of our three cats into the car and had to flee in front of the flames without being able to find our male kitty.
The flames are are visible throughout Sonoma County pretty much everywhere east of, and along the 101 corridor. Parts of Santa Rosa itself are burning and the damage is untold yet as the sun is just up.
Spare a thought for the people and animals fleeing this wind-whipped maelstrom.
Typing this from my iPhone at a booth in the Midwest feeling very useless.
Update:
As the day goes on it is apparent what remarkable devastation has hit. My brothers house in Coffey Park area is gone. The fine entertainment complex just north of town the LBC is gone. The new Sutter Hospital is badly damaged, various department stores are leveled.
I’m astounded that this, or rather these, fires have spread so rapidly and jumped the highway and hit the urban part of the community. The need for shelter and support for the residents will likely strain the abilities of the community, but we will prevail in the end and rebuild the structures. The loss of life is unknown so far, but I expect grim news given the speed and the hour the fires struck.