Please pray for safety of firefighters and residents of the area. My family lives nearby, but they are not in danger at this time. The fire has spread from 3,000 acres on Monday now close to 19,000 acres today with less than 10% containment.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/09/17/northern-californias-rapidly-expanding-king-fire-threatened-more-than-1600-homes-overnight/

http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2014_38/670251/pc-140917-wildfire-jsw-01-838a_54fc83dece58ad74ce7e38d5124c772f.nbcnews-ux-1240-900.jpg

Fire now covering 70,000+ acres... Added 1,000 more men to the fight yesterday.

Suspect in custody for arson. Bail has been set at $10 million.

Sure seems like CA has some big fires every year.

They do, but this one is horrible. Due to the steep terrain and extra dry climate this year, it's a tough one to battle. Also, most of the bad ones are in southern California due to the high temps and dry weather. This year all of CA is having a serious drought. They have recorded 4,000 separate wildfires this year.

here's some good comparisons so you can see just how bad the drought is. Not enough snow or rain, all of the forrests are dry and ripe for wildfire.


first one is Folsom Lake, 3 miles from my folks house. You have to scroll right to see the current state



snowpack differance



I've jumped off this bridge, Mark probably has too

The water levels are a little higher now than they were at the lowest, but not nearly high enough. It'll take quite a while before it looks like that again. So sad...

I know that lake well and its sad to see it like that, I grew up in rancho cordova and folsom was always the place to hang out. Its ashame w as much rain that drops over the US that we let it go unused and drain it directly to the ocean, seems like a huge waste when all states have had their share and still do of drought conditions. Hope your family and friends are safe.