Fire on the 405

It took me an hour and 45 minutes to get to work yesterday. Now, this is not just another I hate LA blog, so keep reading.

A fire broke out in the early morning in the mountains along the 405. It burned a large section and the 405 was closed for hours (it was re-opened during my drive). While I was in stopped traffic, I saw some pretty cool stuff. Now I'm not a looky-loo, but this wasn't a car broken down or something equally stupid. Water dropping helicopters were doing drops one after the other literally 50 ft away from me. There were also lots of firemen all over the mountain clearing brush and putting out hot spots - some parts were still smoldering. Ash and burnt brush was falling all around. I've seen it on TV so many times, but it was really impressive to see the fire crews/water drops so close.

It's sad to drive by today and see all the dead trees. It reminds me of our Colorado trip where the beetles had killed thousands - millions of trees. It's sad to see the wide destruction. Wonder how long it'll take for life to start growing again there.