Firestorms

As I write this, I am preparing for possible deployment to Southern CA. I have already been contacted, and am awaiting a call saying I am going. Our mission: Provide medical care to the firefighters. There may also be other missions, as a hospital and skilled nursing facilities are also being evacuated with the other 250,000 people evac'd, but that is the primary one.

The firestorms in Southern CA provide sharp memories to a lot of us of 2003, when San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Bernadino counties had major firestorms. Our DMAT was on a deployment exercise with other CA teams, when our exercise became a "realtime" emergency. We got caught in fireborne winds that damaged equipment, and reminded us what nature can do. Team members deployed from the exercise to the fires.

The picture is a satellite image of the fires. The smoke is seen trailing off over the ocean.

Anyhow, I am tired and rambling and need to get a few hours sleep. Please pray for those affected by the fires, and for those fighting them.

(UPDATE: I was deployed at 11:45PM. I am reporting this morning, and will be gone for 3-5 days (possibly longer). So, as a result, I probably won't be updating here until I return.)