Real Talk: When Disaster Strikes

After almost four years ago to this week, San Diego had recorded the then largest brush fire in California history. I can still vividly recall all the things that happened during that week. During that time, I was still a junior in high school. I spent the weekend in San Diego instead of going north to where I usually stayed for the weekends. I remember my parents along with my youngest brother coming down to visit my brothers, uncle, and auntie at the house to make sure we were alright.

One day I really remember was the second day of the fires. My youngest brother stayed with us at the house. My uncle was left to watch us and we spent most of the day watching the news. I still remember how gray it was, how the sun was blood red, ash flying everywhere, and the smell of smoke just sifting through the air. I sat through most of the morning playing "Blitz" on the Nintendo 64. After that, my brothers and uncle watched "Matrix Reloaded." We then began watching the news and my older brother decided to turn on the air conditioner to help prevent the inside of the house from smelling like smoke. It was actually the first time we turned on the air conditioner in the house since 1999-2000. I could just remember how frantic everything was, viewing the news. I still remember, my brothers, uncle, and I had to buy some water at the water store in Ralphs. During that time of the fires, the employees that worked for Ralphs were on strike because of bad benefits. My youngest brother took pics of the strikers, all of them holding signs, wearing their masks and goggles. I wondered why they would still be on strike during a time where fires where going on and everything crazy was happening. My youngest brother had to leave later on that night with my parents and I worried about them because they had to use the I-15 freeway to get home and the fires were close to that freeway. At night, my brothers and I watched the news and I remember when they reported that school would be cancelled for the week. Just everything that happened during that week, I still remember.

Now in October 2007, the Southern California wildfires have much exceeded the Cedar fires in 2003 as the most devastating fire disaster in California history. This time, I didn't spend any time in San Diego, where the wildfires there were proclaimed as the worst out of all fires this season. Fortunately, my parents, younger brother, and I were up north safe away from fires, but I still had my thoughts for my close family, friends, and everyone else that were affected by the wildfires in someway. Hearing about the fires in Southern San Diego gave me a nervous feeling because my family that lives over there and most of my friends live around the same area where the Harris fire was supposedly moving towards to. I heard my family there was packing up, just in case they had to evacuate. Most of my friends packed their things just in case. One of my best friends actually had to evacuate his house because he lives in Bonita, but thankfully, his house wasn't harmed. Watching the news all week, it was really sad to see how many people had to evacuate and how many homes and damages took to place all over Southern California. It was good to heard and see how many people united and helped out one another during a time of tragedy. Firefighters battling fires without sufficient rest and risking lives, volunteers that helped out, and charities and donations were able to show how people can be united during a time of need and despair. I'll still continue to pray for everyone that has been severely affected by the wildfires and let's just continue the support for one another. It's unfortunate that these things happen to the best of us, but we must continue to support and pray for the many people that have been affected by these unfortunate events.

October 23, 2007