Still Hangin'--and We're Glad!

We're still here and soooo glad. It's been another long day. The last reverse 911 call came tonight about 7pm. They are telling us that the fire is now 50% contained, and moving due east. That means it is burning straight into miles of Cleveland Natl. Forest and over to Riverside County--Corona and Lake Elsinore. I sure hope it doesn't make it that far for those cities sakes. BUT--we were told to still stay alert and careful because anything could happen and it could turn back on itself and head back in this direction.

This is a fire crew from Cedar City, Utah that came to help us. They are in the Live Oak Canyon. Our ward is named the Live Oak Canyon Ward. So close to home....

Doesn't this just break your heart? A mule deer running through the burnt rubble.

Fighting the fire. While we are grateful that the winds have died down, they don't blow the smoke out of here and the fire fighters can't see what they are doing. This was the case here. The smoke just laid back down on the fire and they couldn't tell where to drop the 'fos-check' (foam). So a leader plane went first and a tanker plane followed closely behind and just kept his eye on that lead plane and then dropped the retardant. Think about the trust that tanker plane pilot needed to have with the lead plane! We're talking about flying in narrow canyons to drop this stuff! I stood in the back yard and watched the two planes do this routine over and over. Very impressive and full of life lessons!

Our evacuees still don't know the exact fate of their homes, but are staying optimistic. They are hoping to go in tomorrow with a brother from our ward who is a police officer and will try and 'badge' his way in with them.

Sad to think about, but some looting is taking place. It's so hard for me to comprehend this. They must just have a 'brain snap' or something from all the stress.....

We are still seeing lots of flames from our windows, so it's still uncertain, but we are encouraged!