Luis, I am so sorry to hear about your apartment but I am glad you are ok. X2 on letting the community know what we can do to assist.

Ken glad to hear you and Stacy are ok and the the cats and birds all made it.

I just arrived at my parents house. I live in Anaheim Hills and my apartment complex was the one hit by the fire.

At my own risk, I ran passed all the blocked roads in order to save my dog. When I got there, I was already suffering from smoke inhalation. The good news is that I managed to get my dog out along with my Grado HP-2's but that's the complete extent of what I own at the moment. As I was leaving, the apartment directly infront of mine was going up in flames.

As of right now, I have no idea whether or not I am completely poor and homeless or just poor or lucky enough to have anything when I get back.

Wish me luck!

Glad you were able to rescue your dog and HP2s Luis. When we left, I didn't try to save things, just our 7 pets. I hope that things go well for you and that your stuff is all OK. Please don't hesitate to let me know if I can do anything to help.

I should have looked at a map online instead of reading descriptions of the evacuation zones here in SB. It turns out that we could have returned yesterday afternoon. Oh well, we've actually been having a good time, even if the animals haven't. We'll be moving back in after having breakfast here at our friends. I wonder how long it will take for the water heater to reheat everything?

Thanks again to everyone for all your support. We and all of SB were very lucky that the wind calmed down and stayed down. I really hope that the winds south of us calm down quickly.

I just arrived at my parents house. I live in Anaheim Hills and my apartment complex was the one hit by the fire.

At my own risk, I ran passed all the blocked roads in order to save my dog. When I got there, I was already suffering from smoke inhalation. The good news is that I managed to get my dog out along with my Grado HP-2's but that's the complete extent of what I own at the moment. As I was leaving, the apartment directly infront of mine was going up in flames.

As of right now, I have no idea whether or not I am completely poor and homeless or just poor or lucky enough to have anything when I get back.

Wish me luck!

I was thinking about you yesterday after my buddy's condo in the same area was hit. I am so sorry to hear about your place, but happy to hear you are okay. I hope everything works out for you.

Thanks for everything guys - I really appreciate your offers of support!

Well - despite the craziness, I got a good nights sleep as did my wife and dog.

As far as I know, my apartment complex, The Cascades, was hit hard. A total of 50 apartments were destroyed and many others have fire damage. The area is closed to the public until city and fire inspectors can go through the damage and see if it is safe enough to return. I have yet to confirm if my apartment was one of the 50.

""I gotta get my dog out," he growled, without interrupting his stride. Wearing flip-flops, he slogged through puddles left by fire hoses and vanished into the haze."

Yeah - that was me but I wasn't wearing flip flops - my wife was.

I started running about two blocks away from my apartment and after 10 seconds of running my lips were chap and my nose and throat were completely dry. My eyes began to tear not much later. On the other side of the road there were 20 foot flames and it was HOT! I wasn't able to go through the main entrance because the surrounding trees were on fire and all the fire trucks were blocking the entrance. I had to climb the incline around the complex and go through the foliage that wasn't burning. When I was there getting my dog out the smoke was real bad and the apartments directly in front of mine were up in flames. The heat was intense and it was very hard to breathe but my adrenaline was pumping and I think that helped me out a lot. Those of you who know me can probably guess I can't run half a block, let alone 2 to and from but somehow I did it. Everything near the apartment complex was on fire including the wood-chip sidewalk floor and the wooden fence that separates the sidewalk from the street. It felt like I was in a really bad movie.

Being here at my parents with everything I own in a backpack is quite a humbling experience. My wife and I are trying to stay positive and are really thankful that we got our dog out. We're crossing our fingers that our place will still be there when they let people back in.

I'll keep you guys posted. Thanks for all your kind words.

Man, the things I miss while being away from the computer.

Good luck Luis.

You put a lot of courage to save your dog Luis, my sincere admiration. Keep us posted, I wish your apartment wasn't among those 50 and you still have your belongings awaiting you there. Otherwise, no worries mate, they're just things and although some might be irreplaceable, you and yours are safe

That is incredible courage to run in and save your dog and as Torpedo mentioned a deep admiration for your act of selflessness. I hope as well that your apartment is still in tact, but I am glad you are safe with loved ones. Also, please do keep us informed.

Well - I called the police department and they told me that my apartment was indeed one that "had fire damage". I was told they were allowing people in on an individual basis. Freaked out, I had a friend there check and it turns out that the extent of my fire damage was our second level deck. It burned a patio swing we had there and made a hole in the deck but that's it!!! The entire inside of my place and the roof is safe and sound.

My neighbors directly next door had their door busted down by the fire department because they had left their deck door open and the fire got in. The fire was literally only a few feet away from our front door! Luckily - they stopped it. What sucks for my neighbors is that they barely moved in about 1 week ago. The previous tenant, in order to save some money, had moved into another apartment in the complex. That apartment was completely destroyed.

According to my friend everything near our apartment was burned and more than 50 apartments were completely destroyed. The fire department said that my unit and the one next to mine were really lucky as they were practically untouched by the fire. All the other units that survived had either burned roofs or other such fire damage much worse than mine. The main office and club house were completely destroyed as well.

At the moment I will remain at my parents house as there is no water, power or gas in the complex where I live. There are police stationed there to prevent any looting and hopefully we can go back tomorrow afternoon.

All in all, I'm just thankful my wife and dog are fine but I am especially thankful that somehow my apartment unit suffered the least amount of damage. As the a fireman told me - "You must be very, very lucky pal".

Thanks for all your concerns and kind words. I can't tell you how much they helped and how happy I am at the moment.

Hi Luis. Glad to hear that you were lucky too. Stacy, myself, our roomer and all 7 "children" are back at home and very happy about it. The fire never came close to us. Thank goodness the winds died down after the first night here.

Shit, that does all sound very lucky.....

That's great news Luis, I'm sure you'll probably still end up having to move (from the sound of things) but hopefully there's a lot that is able to be rescued and reused from the apartment.

Me, today: chassis fabrication. There is always more than you think and it always takes longer than expected, even after having the front and rear panels substantially fabricated by someone else.

Great news Luis.

I'm glad to hear that Luis!

congrats luis!

That is fantastic news Luis. That is very amazing and I'm happy your apartment contents are safe and sound.

Reks who did your data transfer go? I hope all went well and you didn't have to come into work. I hate it when that happens.

Wow dude, that is quite lucky all things considered. Sounds like you dodged a bullet.

Today I slept, a little, dig further diagnostics on my injured PC, priced out replacement parts, and concluded I am buying a 1TB LaCie drive to back up my digital life.

Yesterday I bought 24 drinking glasses, service for 8 flatware (bowls, dinner plates, desert plates, mugs), 64 piece silverware (service for 12 with serving pieces), 8 wine glasses, 4 beer glasses, 4 tumblers, wine rack. Then I studied.

Congrats Luis! Congrats for not breaking a computer, Jacob.

Terrific news Luis, I'm glad you're such a lucky man

Maybe you've spent your dose of good luck for this year, however you might want to check it further by buying some lottery tickets hehehehe.

Big hugs mate

Thanks guys!

I just moved back into my place. The destruction around my apartment is amazing. The fire department is still here and most of the apartments with fire damage are now gated and closed to the public. This was a very nice community and now it looks like a Hollywood movie set from a disaster movie. The fire did indeed get only feet away from my place. My heart goes out to the people who lived right in front of us. For the last two nights we were here, we could look into their living room and see a Christmas tree. All that's there now is the collapsed roof and charred remains of what used to be someone's home.

I will take some pictures and post them later on tonight.

You moved back? As in, you are able to live there right now? If so, that's amazing!

It's time to play Mega Millions Lottery, Luis. It's at 73 million right now.

Edit: And I just noticed I made the same joke Torpedo already made before me. Me=FAIL.

Shaved.

Oh my god Stephen, the phone version of the photo really didn't capture it! Why the fuck did you do that?

And Ken and Luis I am glad things worked out for you guys even though it sounded pretty dramatic. Good luck in the aftermath.

dude, good luck with your cancer treatment

Who is the bald guy?

Who is the bald guy?

You didn't hear about Stephen's new gig?