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Dropping the CW from this thread, please just mute me if you don't want to listen to me freak out about LA fires (and probably swear a lot). I'll add the EatonFire hashtag if there's any useful info I can add (no useful info here, just freaking out)

It's a real mind-fuck to have to get my kids ready for the school bus to pick them up while also calling my family thousands of km away and telling them to get out now. Evac zone is now a few blocks away from my parents and sister.

ok kids have left for school so I can really fall apart now.

I just 6am-cold-called a high school friend to get a phone number that I think might get me in touch with my sibling's partner - sibling is not answering phone.

Whole family is now under evac orders, packing cars, only one road open out of town. I can't believe this is happening

#eatonfire Calling family is spotty, calls keep dropping, internet in Crescenta Valley is slow. I'm texting screenshots of evac order maps to my family.

Crescenta Valley now has to evacuate through La Tuna Canyon

The absolute worst part of all this is I desperately want to know how my family is doing evacuating but I don't want to call and distract them or take up valuable bandwidth with what's not a vital call. I know they are getting out now, I just don't know what "getting out" looks like at this point.

This is not a few homes up in the mountains, this is whole fucking cities.

My sibling that nobody had gotten in touch with just texted me and I'm sobbing with relief. Now just have to gently convince them to leave as soon as possible without sobbing. Deep breaths.

HOly fuck I'm not going to get anything done for work today...

My outside-LA sister is taking the lead on being the contact for everyone in my family now evacuating (which is great, she's actually got disaster prep training). But that means that I just have to sit here and wait for updates and try not to text anyone because it's not helping.

I'm supposed to meet with a student in 20 minutes to talk about their disability accommodations for the astro 101 class I'm teaching and it's going to be really hard to do anything but worry about my family.

My parents and one sister are out the door. Hopefully that means they're on the road soon too, but I'm not going to press them for text updates. One more sibling to go, not sure if I'll hear from them until later, though.

Now just to wait and doomscroll more. Yay.

After expanding the evacuation area for the Eaton Fire terrifyingly quickly multiple times this morning, it seems to have stopped expanding. For now.

Leave now if you're in the evacuation zone! Seriously!

My outside-LA sister and I are comparing notes with our spotty internet information from different places (I'm mostly looking here and various news sites, she's mostly looking at facebook/nextdoor). Together it's almost a useful information set!

My family is still all in Glendale, waiting to see if evac zones spread further. It's all real bad. Stay safe and listen to evacuation orders, LA.

My family's homes are still in the evacuation zone, though not immediately threatened by fire, so they're staying one city over for the night.

I just found a satellite photo in an article that shows a house I rented with several friends in Altadena for a couple of years, and the whole neighbourhood (including that house) is completely burned to the ground. I'm so sad, and so sorry for everyone there.

The disconnect between where I am in my mind and in my body is bizarre. I dreamed about my old house and neighbourhood in Altadena that's now burned to the ground, woke up, checked the status of evacuations and fires thousands of km away, then crunched through the snow under auroras to take care of my goats.

The evacuation zones for the Eaton Fire didn't get bigger overnight, but my family's still under evac orders. Sending good vibes to all the firefighters and other helpers today.

Checked on fires, had a research meeting, checked on fires, had lunch with the early career profs, checked on fires, tested video for an amateur astronomy talk next week, checked fires, comforted a crying student... and now Mt. Wilson Observatory is burning? Fuck.

And I'm supposed to teach an astronomy class in 30 min?!!

honestly, this is why i decided to semi retire like a decade early

i lost all hope for the future a long time ago .. prolly around 2012. then COVID cemented it - we're not getting out of this.

so when you're expecting civilization to collapse by 2050, you really lose all motivation to do things like work a shift.

(i know people with children dont have this luxury, which i why i never had kids)