Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

| by archiveworldraceblogs

The first moments of Santa Barbara’s Jesusita Fire.
 
 
A woman and her older father cross the street. They jog across as I drive toward them. The woman points to the fire, now behind me. Some, however, are still oblivious. A couple walks hand in hand past a small fire station which hasn’t been mobilized yet. They are smiling at each other, their backs to the fire. 

When I got to the office, I told my coworker to turn on the news. 

“Authorities are calling it the Jesusita Fire,” it said. It was already 5 acres. It had started 25-30 minutes before, just as I was writing at Starbucks. 

~

5:09

I’m still at the office. The lights flicker once. Twice. Three times. The howling winds outside or the fire could take them down any second. 

The news says over 150 acres have burned. 

I make sure to save my work in case the power goes down and my computer turns off. 

Earlier, after I heard they were issuing backwards 911 calls north of Foothill, I told my coworker I was leaving. My apartment is on the south side of Foothill, just southwest of the Jesusita Fire. I Gchatted one of my housemates to see if he needed me to grab any of his things. Turned out he was already on his way and another of my housemates was already there.

I drove home. School was just getting out, and traffic was backed up for miles the other direction. Everyone was leaving the area. I started to worry about how long it would take to get back to work after grabbing all of my stuff. 

I don’t worry about my things in times like these. Usually I’m the last to pack up a suitcase and even then I only take the bare necessities: a few days worth of clothes, my computer, a few books, and my guitar. The rest of my stuff is what renter’s insurance is for.
 
To be continued…