Leaves of Fire

Living where I do in Los Angeles, there aren't too many maples and elms and oaks. But just a half-mile away, there are a few that arch over Barrington, one of the major north-south streets here on the westside. Their leaves are now ablaze in color, reminding me of many autumns in Chicago and its western suburbs, where autumn is really autumn.

The danger in Los Angeles this time of year is fire. Forest fires are frightening. When the big forest fire hit Malibu in October 1993, I saw the Santa Monica Mountains ablaze above Sunset Boulevard from Pacific Coast Highway to U.S. 101, a distance of about 12-15 miles. My fear was that the flames would cross Sunset and burn the homes down to where I live and beyond. Armageddon. But the fires were contained above Sunset.

Forest Fires are so frightening because they move so rapidly. I witnessed a horrible forest fire in Santa Barbara near the end of June 1990. The flames rolled down the foothills, torching one home, skipping another, then torching another, leap-frogging down the foothills, jumping across U.S. 101, and then ravaging many homes in Hope Ranch on its ways toward the ocean. More than 600 homes burned to the ground that day.

Southern Californians can empathize with the victims of the recent hurricanes that have devastated our Southern States. We know all too well about natural disasters. We pray that next time the forest fire will once again leap-frog around us or avoid us completely.

I don't even want to think about the next earthquake!