There is a huge billowing cloud of smoke rising from the hills just to the north of campus. The billowing smoke is a complete backdrop for the buildings on campus, so it's not like anyone has to look hard to figure out what smells like a campfire. The smoke is huge and daunting, like an evil brown genie rising from the brown hills.
Those clouds aren't the raining type...The air is incredibly dry. It makes it a little hard to breathe- like when you stick your head out the car window. My nostrils feel parched and part of me wants to squirt water into them. It's really dry.
There are a lot of firefighters who are hearing nothing but howling wind and crackling flames as they try to stop a fire that the wind insists on spreading. I keep thinking about them. I'm worried about my exam tomorrow and thinking about my project. But there are a lot of other people dealing with more pressing issues...
I walked into the library and the tv in the entrance is showing the local news, which is angling for the most-smoke-in-the-shot ("Wow, there's a lot more smoke in this live shot here..."). About 25 students were gathered around the tv. Pretty much all of the undergrads are locals living at home around here and I'm sure many students have been evacuated from their homes. The area of the fire is all "new home communities". While I am so very sorry for people that are at risk of losing their homes, I wish there was more accountability (especially to developers) who insist on building in areas that burn annually. There's talk of shifting more tax burden (specifically taxes for fighting wildfires) to people living in high-risk areas. I wonder if this would help educate people before they bought a home in this type of area.
Classes were cancelled for today (we learned at 2pm) because so many freeways are closed that traffic is a mess and people are having a hard time getting to campus. We'll see if they're closed tomorrow as well.
Fire, fire, fire.
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