Charred

I think we all heard about the So Cal fires that took place on November 15th in and around the Inland Empire.

Without being around a tv all day, I hadn't heard the news, and got a call from my mom saying the fires were less than 15 miles away from their Chino Hills home... Without any of them being contained. Apparently the high winds weren't helping. At 2am, my parents were evacuated.

View from my parent's backyard

Not too distant charred hills... View from my parent's driveway

They left knowing the fire had nearly reached their back fence, and could apparently feel the heat coming off of the hills in front of their house.

It wasn't until the morning that they were able to return to see if their home still stood.

I had the conversation over the phone with them a few times. But at Thanksgiving, 2 weeks later, I could still smell the smoke in the air. And only in person were these blackened hills so daunting.