Last night as my wife, 5-year-old son and I sat down to dinner we looked out of our window and saw flames. For the last 48 hours smoke from wildfires has been billowing into Los Angeles’ skies, but this was different. A couple of spots on the top of a hill visible from our backyard were glowing bright orange. Within minutes a good portion of the ridge was engulfed. It was go time.
The fire was about a mile and half away (this image was from when it just started), but for the last few days southern California has been bombarded by winds blowing about 40 mph typically, but as high as 90 on occasion. With those kind of gusts, embers from a fire can spread across miles in no time. Other fires had spread swiftly, covering thousands of acres and after two days the valiant firefighters still had not been able to contain them.
We don’t yet know what caused the multiple fires burning LA for last two days, but the wind has downed huge branches and trees. Power lines can spark anywhere, any time, and with a huge amount of dry vegetation around — our typical winter rains have been nonexistent this year — there’s a constant risk of flames. The fires have been devastating. Over 100,000 ordered to evacuate. Five dead. Entire towns gone.
I’m a bit of a prepper and had multiple go bags at the ready. I have doubles of nearly everything I need in daily life, one set packed up in a duffel. My son Cedric doesn’t. Behind tears he scrambled to squeeze the most important things in his life into his Sonic the Hedgehog backpack: a bunch of Hot Wheels, his recent Christmas presents, some loose crayons, just the most random stuff.
“Are we never coming back to this house again?” he asked repeatedly, bawling. There was no time to comfort him. My wife did that as I threw last minute mementos and valuables into our FZJ80 Land Cruiser.
Then it was time to turn on the hoses. Days of wind had blown dry, combustible pine needles and leaves all over our house and yard, in every nook and corner of the structure. We had seen on the news people dousing their properties with water so embers wouldn’t catch. I got on the roof to soak the shingles, my brother Dan who lives nearby came over to drench the front yard.
A hose seems powerful until you realize you need to cover an entire house, then it feels like pissing into the ocean. It’s even harder in the dark since you can’t really see what you’re doing, but it doesn’t matter. You have to try. A friend of a friend said his house was one of two left standing in his neighborhood because he left the sprinklers running before he evacuated.
We piled into the Land Cruiser and headed out. The plan was to go to Dan’s house, which is much more accessible from a major street. I had long known that the Land Cruiser was the perfect car for an apocalypse. It’s dead reliable and can go anywhere, and the J80 in particular offers the best compromise between modernity and old school ruggedness.
As much as I love our FJ60, it’s too loud, slow, and leaf-spring bumpy to drive comfortably in modern highway traffic. The V8-powered J100 is more Lexus-luxurious, though it lacks the J80’s solid front axle. The J80 isn’t quick by any measure, but it’s modern enough that you won’t see the grille of a Freightliner Cascadia fill up your rear view mirror when you try to merge, as long as you don’t mind getting 10 mpg.
In this case we were using the J80’s cargo capacity (a little less than a J60’s) more than its renowned off-road ability, but you never know. There were reports of people abandoning their cars in the middle of the road as they fled. The Land Cruiser’s ability to easily jump a curb or push a dead car out of the way with its body-on-frame construction might prove pivotal in a life or death situation.
Luckily we didn’t have to do any of that. In the end we were extremely fortunate. The winds had died down for the first time in two days, allowing water-dropping helicopters to control the flames within a few hours. It was one of the few fires that hadn’t swelled to an uncontrollable inferno.
We returned home shortly after. It was a harrowing experience that I don’t wish on anyone. I didn’t even have time to think about the stuff I’d be leaving behind, like my other cars and car-related memorabilia collected over years of working on JNC. In a flash it could have all been gone. My lungs still sting from the acrid air. Our house smells faintly of smoke. We have friends that spent the night at hotels not knowing if they still have a home, and others who have lost everything. We hope everyone affected by this fire can find some peace.
Glad you made it back. It’s harrowing just reading it. All the best
Excuse my language, but Jesus Christ, that is intense. So sorry for you and your family to go through that experience. It is seriously chaos right now, as my SoCal friends are also telling me of all these fires starting everywhere. Which makes me think, are those manmade?, because I’ve heard of people hitting a new low and purposely starting fires to create evacuations, which allow those lowlifes to go looting. Sigh.
Ben (and family), please stay strong and vigilant during these times man. Thank you for sharing this.
Thank you, Taylor!
If that is the case the world has sunk to a new low, but I don’t know how smart of a plan that is. There’s nothing left to take in most cases. Hope your friends are okay.
Ben, so sorry to hear of your brush with those flames. It is providential that they bypassed your memoribilia-loaded home. If it helps, I remember the East Coast fires in NJ when I was about 12 so, as I remember seeing a red sky about 5 miles away, I understand. Recently, I experienced something once only thought of in either California or, The Philippines (where my wife is from) … an earthquake in West Virginia! The tremor ran right up underneath my couch recliner, causing the stucco to flake off the sides of the house! I was even interviewed on the TV news! Not bragging about either case only, just understanding that your descriptive words are a true reflection of the happenings you’ve had. Hope it all settles down for you all soon. Disasters ain’t fun but, it’s arelief when they are not overdaging. Was Daniel’s place OK, you didn’t say? Need anything, besides encouragement … let all us JNC readers know, we’ll respond, if necessary.
Thank you, Fred!
Dan’s place was okay. It’s a bit further away from from where the fire was than ours. Many years we lived in Maryland and Dan’s beloved Honda Prelude was destroyed in a phenomenon we never thought was possible there, a tornado. You are incredibly kind to offer help. It means a lot! All is good here for now, at least in our area.
Ben, you are DEFINITELY a Nissan die-hard deep down. Way better than calling them “Camry” or “Accord,” or even “Diamonte.”
Our daughter’s name is Karli. At the time, a friend of mine jokingly remarked, “Man, Taylor, you love cars so much that you named your daughter “KARli!” Our son’s name is “AutoMason,” j/k besides the latter part.
Some say I married my wife because her name is CARrie. If we have a girl Gloria or Silvia will suffice as well. However, it’s just because Nissan seems to have the most cars named after humans. There are Celestes, Carinas, and Carols but very few cars that have boys’ names, so Cedric it was!
Relieved that this article had a happy ending, and hope that’s the end of the danger for you and your loved ones Ben.
Hoping and praying for some rain & that the rest of the fires will be contained soon and more families will be spared.
Most of us readers may never have met you or know you, but it does still make the news coverage hit home a bit more reading your account.
Thank, Bryan!
There have been many wildfires in California over the years (though the seem to be getting more frequent) and I always thought it could never happen in the heavily populated areas. I think a lot of Angelenos were lulled into a false sense of security. I don’t think we’ll make that mistake again. We know so many people who have been affected and are in a much worse situation than us. It’ll be something all of us will be talking about for a long time.
I’ve had to evacuate twice in my life from fires when living in apartments so I can relate somewhat. I’m sooo glad you were able to return to your home and hope that you continue living there. A lot of issues the world is facing are man-made and these will continue to get worse, unfortunately, but it is ABSOLUTELY sick that people are starting fires intentionally to create an opportunity for looting.
Thanks, Azfer!
I have heard reports of looters after the fire, but I don’t know whether the fires were intentionally started by them. There are also many scammers preying on people who have lost everything, pretending to be insurance companies and stealing their data. Seems like new lows are stooped to every day.
Glad it all went well Ben and Dan.
Thank you, Nigel!
Wow. Glad you were able to have something to return to. We certainly miss aspects of California from “the before times”, but other things, well…of course we’re now having similar wildfires in Colorado as well so there really is no perfect place.
I do have to say I was (pleasantly) amused to learn your son’s name, and have to wonder if you one day have a daughter would she be named Laurel?
Thanks, Jim!
You guessed the name. I’ve discussed it with my wife and we’re on the same page!
Haha, that’s great, it’s a lovely name! Best of luck!
It’s good to hear that you and the family caught a break.
How rare is it to have the chance to write from personal experience about your vehicle and its survival capacities!
Thanks, John!
I will recommend the Land Cruiser to anyone for as long as I can recommend!
Ben, glad to hear some form of “normalcy” is returning for you (nothing normal about the conflagration but take solace where you find it, right?) We lost a property in Lahaina so I feel the pain all are going through; but like you, our primary residence was spared and we thank the stars for that at least. Hang in there and thanks for the update.
Thank you, Michael,
I’m sorry to hear about your loss in Lahaina. We were very fortunate but we’re not out of the woods yet. Winds are going to be somewhat high (though not as high as they were the last few days) until Saturday. Two new fires popped up today, one near Calabasas and one near Ventura County. Glad your home was spared!
So glad you and family are OK!!!
Thank you, Bill!
Please, please, please don’t fly your drones, people. A water tanker just got hit by a drone. THEN, the planes are grounded.
! of 2 available!
Good job heeding the warnings! By thee sounds of it most people are using their heads and getting out in time. I’m really happy you and your family avoided the destruction so many have experienced our there. I definitely hope it stays that way.
I watched effspot’s videos yesterday and it sure appears the neighborhoods he went to were completely empty by the time the flames got there, which is exactly what you want to see. I also noted that cars parked on the street faired better than cars in garages. I would suggest that if you think the flames are coming back that you get your cars to a large open parking lot like a grocery store or strip mall. That is, of course only if you have plenty of time to make those preparations safely.
I’m curious how you got the word that it was safe to return? Or, if there was no word, how you were able to make the decision it was safe.
Stay safe out there!
Thanks, Land Ark!
There’s an app called Watch Duty that has excellent updates about fire locations, evacuation zones, and so on.
My comment got eaten, stay safe Ben! And everyone else out there!
Happy to hear you and the family made it out OK. Aside from some false alarm notifications from the emergency broadcasting system, it’s been safe here in Long Beach. There’s a ton of local resources and hotels down here that may still have rooms available for those in need.
Thanks Lee! Glad you are safe in LBC.
Ben, I am happy to hear that you and family are safe. It is truly a blessing that your home emerged unscathed. I can not imagine having to just leave like that. I hope you are out of danger and that you do not have to experience an event like this ever again.
Thank you, KMM! I don’t wish it on anyone.
Glad to hear that you are relatively unscathed. I was worried from how the story was going. I have a lot of family in the LA area, and we haven’t been able to contact any of them starting yesterday. Thankfully, from online searches, it seems the fires probably haven’t reached them yet.
Glad to read you were spared! Stay safe, and if possible help those who need it!
Sorry Ben, it sounds like you did everything right in an unfortunate situation. I am glad you and family are physically doing OK. The mental part is more to add to your tool chest of knowledge to deal with life’s emergencies. It sounds like you are well equipped.
I will add a little knowledge also. As evacuations are starting you want to be the first to be leaving, especially in a city. When the roads get clogged with traffic and fire is moving fast you do not want to be not moving in a traffic jam. Cars break down and clog the roads. People panic and do stupid things and body’s are found in cars after the fire passes. Don’t mean to be morbid it’s just the facts.
Wild fires are life threatening situations but being in a city with so many potentials for blocking your escape route would terrify me. Remember fire burns up hill faster than down a hill. The safest place to be in a fire is in the black (the area that has already burned and there is no fuel left to burn) and wait until it is safe to venture away from that area.
I have lived in the mountains in Nor-Cal all of my adult life. I understand your garden hose in the ocean example I live on 5 acres in an extremely windy location. I have been evacuated for multiple days two of the last three years and watered everything close to the house many times.
Glad you are good, stay safe.