The latest forest fire in Santa Barbara is making news worldwide. Million dollar homes are reduced to ashes as the flames sweep the countryside.
However, fires are not at all uncommon in this part of the U.S. Many TravelPod bloggers have found themselves in the midst of a wildfire in the past.
Here are a few entries from California, I found particularly interesting:
Lisartw got stuck just outside Los Angeles, as a monstrous fire took over the highway that was supposed to take her into the city. She posted some breathtaking shots of the smoke encircling the area.
California forest fire
The Interstate 5 runs right through a huge wildfire that’s been burning for a week. 24,000 acres of burning grassland and only 25% contained. The interstate was shut so we bedded down in a lovely little motel 4 miles north of the fires and the closure in a hope that the road would be back open today. Well, it was. Luckily for us …We made it through the fire, the scene was quite remarkable. The amount of grassland that was on fire was amazing and the amount that had been burned already quite shocking. All credit goes to the poor firefighters battling it. Some of them were staying in the motel we were at last night and the poor blokes could hardly talk, I’m assuming coz of the smoke.
Deb93 drove across the country with a couple of her friends in a Ford Taurus a few years ago. They also spotted a wildfire in Yosemite Park.
Yosemite wildfire
Not only is Yosemite wildly popular (there were traffic jams from every direction heading into the visitors center), it was also the 4th of July long weekend so we had NO chance! The first thing we learned upon entering Yosemite is that it’s HUGE!! It was a good 45-60 minutes between the time we actually entered the park and got to the “ranger station” and all the cool things the park is famous for.
-from “Veering from the plan”, Yosemite National Park, California, United States
Hannahandbrian also encountered a small fire on their bicycle tour of the Pacific coast.
Big Sur wildfire
We rode past a forest fire on our way to camp, and hoped that our campground would be open because of it. As we rode, we could look back and see the fire creeping closer to the road, and by that night when we checked it out it looked as if the fire had moved down from the ridge to the road.
- from “Big Sur (Day 36)”, Big Sur, United States
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