I hope everyone can stay safe, all our prayers are with you in California, so sorry for anyone who has had a loss.

Here's a screen shot of the current status: 9:45pm Saturday

That's an awful lot of red near Santa Barbara! Hope you stay safe.

And a direct link to up-to-date fire maps:
https://maps.nwcg.gov/sa/#/%3F/34.4342/-119.1033/10 

We’re still good as of Saturday evening – thanks for asking. Things got pretty dicey this morning when the winds picked up to 65 mph as predicted. [link]  Helped a couple of friends evacuate earlier today.  The family is 90 miles up the coast in a hotel, taking a break from the ash and drama. They took the station wagon, so Rosebud got pressed into service hauling 4 gallons of fire retardant concentrate destined for a friend’s house. Rosebud: Emergency response vehicle. Who would’ve thought?

As of now the winds have died down and are expected to lay down throughout the evening, picking back up tomorrow morning. Lots of dramatic footage on YouTube if anyone’s interested. 

I see mandatory evacuations all the way to 154, Are you safe Michael?

I just heard areas north of 101 are under mandatory evacuation with 65 mph gusts coming down the canyons and 30mph sustained winds.
I am thinking this means State street and other downtown areas...

Thanks Michael. Moderate to strong Santa Ana winds predicted for tonite through the weekend. No sign of wind so far. Well see...

Here's what the fire situation is at the moment near Santa Barbara. It's constantly updated.

https://maps.nwcg.gov/sa/#/%3F/34.4342/-119.1033/10

 (or see nationwide map and zoom in: maps.nwcg.gov )

Thanks, Paul. The fire's still 8-10 miles away from us. It's headed our way, but the Santa Ana winds have died so it's moving slowly at the moment. Over 700 other families haven't been so lucky.

My thoughts and hopes are with you mate, having been through it and coming close to disaster I Hope all souls will be OK and recover when it's finally over..............Paul

Pic of the Santa Barbara fire from the International Space Station on day 2. It's now day 7 and much larger. Any wonder Rosebud's gettin' dusted?

Found a solution to the "ash problem."

This fire has grown massively. On target to be the largest in CA's history; nearly a 1/4 million acres as of Sunday. 700+ homes lost, 6000 firefighters on the line and just about every available air tanker including DC-9s and a Boeing 747. [https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n744st/#fcb0239]

Be sure to click on the "3-D view" button to watch the 747 skim the ridge tops in real time. If the 747 isn't flying (e.g. nighttime), click on the "flight history" button and watch it drop retardant in Santa Barbara then head to Sacramento to refill and return to the fire—a 400 mile round trip. Click here [link] for unbelievable footage of the fire.

Rosebud's getting a dusting, even in the garage. The power's been going off and on for 3 days now, but were safe for the time being.

gtamini helped save his parent's house last night. lost one structure on the property but 4 neighbors lost everything.

If anyone needs some place to stay, I have an empty guest house that can sleep a few people here in San Diego (Escondido ). 2 couches and a queen bed but can't set up more in there if needed.

This one's about 25 miles south of us. Several friends have already lost their homes. [link]