The smell of smoke from the fires around the LA area is very noticeable

[BigmanPigman]

6. My first thought was always, "Get the dog and drive out ASAP!"

I don't have kids but my dogs were my babies and they were always my main priority.

To this day the tiniest smell of smoke makes me go into "possible evacuation" mode. Since CA has so many canyons in areas close to downtown/urban structures even those who live in what most people would think are safe areas due to all the concrete, etc fires can still consume many square miles quickly.

I remember one of the fires burning straight to the Pacific Ocean, East to West winds, nothing got in its way, it just ran out of stuff to burn since it couldn't burn water.