Smoking Section

The fire continues to burn. Heavy smoke on the eastern perimeter yesterday limited air drops of water and fire retardant. That same smoke fills the foothill communities, choking the city and turning the moon orange. On a normal South Pasadena night, mountains would span the background of this view.

Now I fully understand the term "smokescreen."

Of course, everything reminds me of a poem. As I stood on the hillside trying to make some sense of scorched earth and shrouded mountains, I remembered these few lines by Tennyson:

The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks.
The long day wanes, the slow moon climbs,
The deep moans round with many voices.
Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.

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For continuing fire coverage, refer to my usual links:

Altadena Hiker
Altadenablog
LA Observed
Firefighter Blog
Inciweb
LA Times dynamic map of current fire zone
LA Now (LA Times blog)

UPDATE: 8:45AM Station fire 42% contained. New fire on Ortega Highway.

UPDATE: 2:30PM 40 miles of Angeles Crest Highway closed "indefinitely" due to fires.