I Hate Fires!

2001 Westlake Village Fire
Video sent by desertnut

I hate fires! Especially when it's arson. The Cabazon, California fire took the lives of four firemen yesterday. There's a $100,000 reward to find the coward who started this. The fire is about 35 miles from where we live. We're on the other side of the mountain. As bad as this fire is, I don't smell any smoke. I think it's because the winds are blowing in the opposite direction. I hope the firemen are able to extinguished the fire out soon.

This reminds me of a fire that took place in Westlake Village and Thousand Oaks area five years ago. My husband left for work early in the morning. An hour after Gordon left, he called me on his cell phone to warn me about a fire near by. He heard about it on his car radio. I opened my bedroom shutters and to my horror, couldn't believe my eyes! The fire was across the way surrounding our hills and smoke was everywhere. I immediately called my neighbors to make sure they were awake and to warn them.

I got dressed, grabbed my dog and a few posessions and out the door I ran. I couldn't see two feet in front of me because of the black smoke. I got in my car with Pumpkin and off we went. As long as I had my dog, that's all that matter. Some of my neighbors stayed and watered down their roofs to keep the flames away.

I drove to my sister's house who lived 12 miles from me. I remember turning on the news and seeing our neighborhood live on television. I actually saw our condo on the news (see above news footage I taped off the television in 2001). We were very fortunate that our homes didn't burn down. Thanks to the brave firemen who were able to extinguished the fires and save our homes before it was too late.