(Pic from last May by the Atwater Village Newbie.)
Wildfires are raging all over Southern California, destroying countless homes -- and laying waste to a mobile home area in Sylmar. The smell of smoke is in the air all over the region, even several miles from where the blazes are lighting the nighttime sky.
Over in Glendale, the Americana at Brand was set tonight to light up its first-ever Christmas tree tonight, complete with Santa, a choir, Peabo Bryson, and a big fireworks display.
Surely, they'd cut out the fireworks, right? Might be tacky, given what's going on right now in the region.
Naaah. Like I said, the Americana isn't exactly known for its restraint, or tact. Back in May, its opening celebration ran long -- and the shopping center wound up freaking out the city by unleashing its fireworks display at 11:15 p.m. (see above).
This time, having been watching fire coverage all day, we both at first freaked out when we heard loud pops -- and then fire in the sky off in a distance. It took us a beat to realize that those were fireworks -- and that the Americana was behind it.
MEANWHILE, we were home to catch the Americana fireworks because -- I'm sure like many of you -- the fires forced us to cancel our evening plans. We were set to attend an early Thanksgiving meal at a friend's house in La Mirada... but the thought of Blogger Preschooler breathing in all that smoke -- and the thought of battling traffic down to Orange County -- convinced us to phone our regrets, sadly. KFWB finally convinced us once and for all, when a county fireman warned listeners to stay off the freeways if they could.
If the smoke is this noticeable in the Atwater Village/Silver Lake/Los Feliz/South Glendale area, I gotta imagine it's nearly unbearable closer to the actual blazes. How are all of you faring? Let's all send good thoughts tonight to the brave firefighters working overtime to save homes and lives.
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