Western Railroad Discussion > Holy smokes: Weird lighting on the Chino Local

Back on August 6, an arsonist set a wildfire in Holy Jim Canyon southeast of Corona, CA.  The wags who name wildfires decided to dub this one the Holy Fire after the canyon where it started.  It's still burning seven days and 23,000 acres later, but is thankfully now more than 50% contained. 

Chino is located just to the northwest of Corona, and the prevailing winds in the upper atmosphere conspired to blow the smoke plume over the city in the first few days after the fire started.  Luckily the stuff has mostly stayed in the upper atmosphere, leaving the air at ground level more or less breathable as LA basin air goes, but it has lead to some rather odd lighting conditions.

1, 2. UP's day job that works the Chino industrial park, LOB29, goes to work around 7:30 in the morning.  On the 7th, the view looking west at the Monte Vista Ave. crossing as the local came back from switching Parr Lumber was plenty smoky, and the view looking east even moreso.
 

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3, 4. On August 8, the sky to the west was relatively clear as seen from the Yorba Ave. crossing, but the light was even more surreal, and the view to the east shows why.  Yuck!  That's all smoke, no clouds.

5. By evening, the smoke plume had spread further to the west, resulting in an interesting sunset.

The fire has resulted in evacuations and the loss of about 20 structures so far, but thankfully no loss of life.  It doesn't rain much around here this time of year, but temperatures have subsided from blast furnace to just toaster oven, and it sounds like firefighters are gaining the upper hand.  Best wishes to them and the people affected by the fire.

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There's a special place in hell for arsonists.

LittleDoc Wrote:
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> There's a special place in hell for arsonists.

Yeah, this guy is very lucky the cops caught him first. But from the way he's acting in his court appearances so far it looks like he's going for an insanity defense.
Hope he likes Patton State Hospital.

But with new in the middle of the night bill that was by the California legislature. If he pleads insanity, he’ll be eligible for two years of State funded treatment. If he completes this treatment, he’ll be released and his record will be expunged. Murders also qualify. Look it up if you think it can’t be so! 

Valleyman

Ahh, the Fighting Straight Jackets of Patton State...