My buddies and I left before dawn to ride from the Peninsula to our favorite climb in the Santa Monica mountains, which is about 30-35 miles away. We had no idea a fire was going on. When we passed the marina (we were still 20 miles out) we saw orange flames on the mountain. A short time later the sky brightened up and we could see the the smoke everywhere. Turned out that our destination – Latigo Canyon – was the one ablaze.

We stopped and watched the aerial assault on the fire, including the converted jumbo jet and super scoopers. It was quite a sight. Those men and women are awesome in their flying ability. And the brave folks on the ground were spectacular.