So Cal Fires

The Southern California fires have surely affected the Providence campus, students, and staff. There was a fire approximately 2 miles away from the PCC campus. It was a hay fire and they were able to contain it so that it did not spread. The wind affected the PCC campus the most. On Monday morning there were various tree branches scattered about campus and all the grass is filled with leaves and different things. Our sand volleyball court became very flat and a lot of the sand is gone. The wind has completely died down. There have been ashes falling throughout the day yesterday and some today. Yesterday my car had ashes all over and when I turned on the air conditioner a lot of ashes came through. It was pretty weird. My friend Megan went home to Washington this weekend because her sister-in-law had a baby. She flew back home on Monday night and when she was landing she could see all the different fires from the air. One of my roommates, Rachel, a lot of her family has been evacuated from their homes. Her grandparents, who live in Malibu, were evacuated and their Presbyterian church burned down on early Sunday morning. Her aunt lives in Santa Clarita by Magic Mountain and she was also evacuated. Almost everyone here at Providence knows at least one person that was either evacuated or is packed and ready to go at any time. It's been pretty hectic around here and a lot of people are worried about their families and friends. My RA [[Resident Assistant aka dorm mom]] We have been assured that PCC will not get hit by the fires. We are in the middle of town and it would be almost impossible for any of the fires to hit us. We have been very fortunate and haven't lost power. We are all in constant prayer for the families that have been affected by the So Cal fires.

Today we had a campus clean up day to try and get everything back to normal. There were a lot of people that helped, but there is still a lot to be done. We have all been staying inside as much as possible because the air has been filled with smoke and it makes it hard to breathe. When you look at the mountains, you can hardly see them because there is a thick layer of smoke around them. The weather has been very hot this week. It’s been in the high 80s and there has been no wind. Hopefully within the next couple weeks it will improve.