fire

as most of you can probably imagine, things have been pretty crazy over here in san diego the last few days. fires have rampaged much of the area, but things seem to be getting better. since i live in central san diego and pretty close to the coast, neither i nor my property was ever in any real imminent danger. however, other people i know were a little closer to the action. a few of my friends and coworkers had to leave their houses under mandatory evacuation orders. but even being away from the fires, the effects could still be felt near my place. you could smell it in the air sunday night. i didn't go into work on monday and halfway through the day, i closed all my windows because of all the ash coming in. unfortunately, i had clients flying into town on monday from baltimore for training tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. my manager decided to let them make the call, and they opted to go ahead with the meeting. my office was under voluntary evacuation on monday but not on tuesday. the air was thick with smoke and ash. soot covered everything. i was coughing all day and my eyes were burning. my throat is still sore from all the ash i inhaled. according to my doctor, i'm going to die at the age of 50 because of pneumoconiosis.

on the bright side, things are getting better. much, though not all, of the fire has been contained. the weather isn't as dry as it was and the wind has died down a bit. most people i know that left their homes have now returned. fortunately, no one i know lost anything due to the fires.

check out this map developed using the google maps api.

and here are three maps with some things labeled for a little perspective on where things are. each map gets a little more detailed and closer (notice the scale on the bottom left ).