Watching the news here in the UK about the LA wildfires. I know @MacSparky lives on the outskirts of LA and has previously posted about being affected by wildfires, but from his previous content about regularly visiting Disneyland I am hopeful that he and his family are on the southern side of the city and therefore safe from this rounds. But I also hope other MPU folk are safe and not affected.
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Irvine is currently located on the border between the āvery highā and āextremeā risk of fire spread areas. (windy.com fire danger layer)
Los Angeles is both a county and a city. Irvine is in the next county over, Orange County.
The really bad fire is centered communities in Los Angeles county on the coast: Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Santa Monica. These areas are hilly, with lots of brush. The brush makes spreading fire easy, especially with the current high winds from the dessert, the Santa Ana windsā¦
The eastern side of Santa Monica has an evacuation order. Santa Monica has never had one before. There have been brush fires at the Getty Villa museum, but so far the museum/villa itself is safe.
Irvine is inland and about 50 miles from Santa Monica.
Another badly burning area is in Altadena. The Eaton fire is the one affecting Altadena,
JPL in Pasadena has been ordered to evacuate.
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My mother-in-lawās childhood home in the Palisades seems to have narrowly averted disaster. Her high school appears to have burned. My home and office are close to the fires, but the fire appears to be moving away from us.
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Thanks. @sunil was concerned about @MacSparky and I recalled reading he was living in Irvine when he gave up his law practice. With the exception of approximately 3 minutes Iāve never been to California. 
Hey Gang,
We are all safe and sound and about 50 miles from the fire. I live in Orange County, on the opposite side of Los Angeles County. The winds are really bad. It really was howling through there the last few days but seems to be calming down, which is good for us. Thanks for all the kind concerns.
I have several friends up where the fires are and none of them have experienced any property damage, but theyāve all had a good scare.
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Back in the fall there was a drought in the NJ/NYC area, it didnāt rain for over 2 months. I remember driving through some woods in NJ and the smoke started getting thicker and thicker and I was wondering if we should turn around or weād get trapped in a fire. Luckily that didnāt happen, but it made me think of how bad it must be in LA where they donāt get enough rainfall.
Iām glad to hear that!
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Thereās a map viewer by the California Department of Forestry and Fire protection (blue pins are cameras and allow image viewing). Iām not sure how frequently itās updated.
Southern California Fires 2025
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In the western US thereās also Watch Duty, a non-profit, that has updates, alerts, and maps in real time. Web & mobile apps.
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I actually only came here today to check if David and other MPU people are alright (Iām from Germany, I know some people in the US but none in California. But I feel almost like knowing David personally from so many podcasts.)
Good luck to everyone in the affected regions!
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This is the only subscription I have on auto-renewal. itās been great.
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Santa Monica has reduced the Evacuation Warning Zone.
I also want to point out that a viral image ostensibly showing a traffic cop giving citations is being misinterpreted (Iām being tactful; it may be a first).
Regarding traffic citations:
All parking enforcement operations in Santa Monica were suspended as soon as evacuation orders and warnings were issued. Once the emergency has stabilized, city officials will address any citations that might have been issued to individuals who were evacuated.
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Good to hear David is safe, but I feel for those who have been affected. Devastating fires.
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Very glad to hear it! ā¦ Iām sure many of us were worried (āBig stateā¦,ā etc; but, āWhew!ā).
āTim
It is pretty terrible. Can you imagine your whole neighborhood getting wiped out like that? I was talking to a friend up there and theyāre just trying to figure out how they can get mail now.
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