The hills east of the Napa Valley are on fire again...this time towards the Adventist communities of Deer Park and Angwin, which are being evacuated. 800 acres burned so far, with the fire described as aggressive, and red flag warnings for the area through tomorrow night.

Very sad.

What is it like to live in Napa these days? You never really get used to the strange sunlight through the smoke. You dread the weather forecast, with its high temps, high winds, and low humidity, And every hour your phone pings with yet another notice from the Office of Emergency Services: new evacuation orders, new evacuation warnings: That's where Mark and Ann, live, that's where Fred lives. I hope Sheldon is OK. They've even evacuated the hospital...

And you think through, one more time, what you would take with you if you have to leave in a hurry...

This is the image from this morning. Heartrending.

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=83d73b75423c4201aecd08e15fa8e6e7&extent=-13659550.3695%2C4639276.2578%2C-13602069.7242%2C4670156.8172%2C102100

My daughter, who lives just south of Sonoma, sent an email at 1:40 this morning mentioning that she's being kept awake (although she's a night owl anyway) by the sound of heavy traffic on the nearby arterial road, people evacuating from the north. She says it's too much like 2017, although her area hasn't yet had the high winds. One fire has already reached the eastern boundary of Santa Rosa.

Speaking of owls, she says that the population on their 5 acres is hooting away normally, with the juveniles doing their normal begging.

My daughter and her husband have their "go bags" packed and recently hosted a neighborhood meeting (socially distanced in their vineyard) to make sure no neighbor is left behind should the evacuation warning come.

I suspect she is out helping evacuate animals today (she's a veterinarian).

We in NW Oregon are getting east winds, too, not as strong as the Labor Day storm. We're hoping that the several inches of rain that has miraculously fallen in the past week will keep things damp for a while. We may, however, get some smoke.

City of Calistoga is now under mandatory evacuation orders. Napa Valley College, where I teach a few classes, is now an emergency shelter for refugees from the fires. 68,000 people in Napa and Sonoma counties have been evacuated.

My own home is fine, the fires are a good ten miles north of us, but so many friends have been affected.

Hope your daughter continues to be safe, OM.

You and your family stay safe, too!