Santa Barbara on Fire!

The two day old Jesusita fire here in Santa Barbara is now estimated to have burned up to 2,500 acres while destroying 20 homes and displacing 12,000 people. The evacuation warning line is just one block from where I live downtown, although I'm confident that it will not be upgraded to a mandatory evacuation here.

Taken Wednesday early afternoon with my Blackberry.

(AP Photo/Keith Cullom, Wednesday early evening)

(Photo/Fred Barbaria)
Ash the size of large flakes of snow is falling all around and the smoke is pretty thick as the winds kick up to 60 mph in the afternoon increasing the already mid-90 degree temperatures. I'm glad that I didn't wash my car over the weekend!