One of the names for the Los Angeles area from the indigenous peoples was “Valley of the Smokes” because the mountains and the on-shore winds worked together to trap the smoke from campfires in the basins.  In the last four days our area has lived up to that name, but interestingly it is because the off-shore Santa Ana winds are stirring up the fires.

Last night the moon was a pumpkin orange color and the past few mornings the sunrise has been spectacular, all due to the smoke in the air.  But our neighborhood smells of smoke, there are white ash flecks on everything outdoors, and pretty much all outdoor sporting and recreation events are canceled.  The other day on my way home from work I passed a fire strike team from the San Francisco Bay area that was headed to one of the fires.  And I don’t even live that close to the current fires.  It has made for some interesting NASA imagery.

I am sure that you are aware that since early Sunday morning an almost unprecedented series of fires has been burning throughout southern California.  One of the fires very first casualties was Malibu Presbyterian Church.  The Presbyterian News Service issued an initial news story on Monday about the Malibu Church loss and the fires.  Today the News Service posted a “ special update“, reprinting an update that Rev. Steve Yamaguchi, Executive Presbyter of neighboring Los Ranchos Presbytery, put out.  Steve also talks about how in the midst of this loss the church is still a witness to the community talking about Christians being a “resurrection people.”  Updates are also available from the Presbytery of the Pacific web site, the Presbytery of which Malibu is a part.

In addition, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has two staff members in the area and I am hoping that we can hear from at least one of them at our Synod meeting that begins tomorrow.

But while the Malibu fire has gotten a lot of press, it is among the smaller of the fires that are burning.  The two major fires and several smaller ones in the San Diego area have displaced 250,000 people, including several Presbyterians I know.  The Presbytery of San Diego lists several of its churches as evacuation centers, but one of those, Solano Beach Presbyterian Church, had to be evacuated itself, at least for a day or two.

The good news is that the winds are slowly calming down, the temperatures are dropping, and the humidity is rising.  But there is a lot of brush and timber burning and even under ideal conditions it would take a while to get this much acreage under control.  I don’t know if any of these fires will, by itself, pass the record Ceder Fire of 2003 that caused major destruction in the San Diego area, or the slightly smaller Zaca Fire that burned most of this past summer in the wilderness north of Santa Barbara.  But as of this morning’s situation report the Harris Fire on the north side of San Diego was at 194,000 acres with 1% containment so it could set new records.

Just as the smoke is casting a shadow on southern California this disaster will be casting its shadow on the meeting of the Synod of Southern California and Hawaii the next few days.  We appreciate your prayers and as interesting news and Presbyterian specific information becomes available I’ll post updates.