Thanks to the Fire Department for a job well done in Verdugos
To the Glendale Fire Department:
While taking a five-minute break at work today, I noticed an
orange haze in the color of the sky outside. Having lived in Southern
California all of my life, I immediately feared the worst -- fire.
I called my wife, who was at our home in the hills in Glendale,
and sure enough, she said there was a fire raging near our home.
She reassured me, though, that it was several miles away and our
home was in no immediate danger. We have lived in the hills in
Glendale for 11 years and have survived many close calls.
During our hectic lives, we seem to notice, in the periphery of
our days, the fire department testing gear, clearing brush, checking
hydrants and neighborhoods, but never really stop to register the
value of such a system and its people.
Somehow, after finishing my break, I felt comforted by a gut
feeling that our fire department would gain control of the situation
quickly.
Many hours later, as I was finally able to leave work, I
approached my car on the roof of a parking structure in Studio City.
My view was of streaks of fire, each a mile long, heading up the
mountainside toward the top of the hill and down the other side,
toward my home and family.
Thoughts of my wife at home with our infant daughter, my
10-year-old son at school near Whiting Woods, and my 12-year-old
daughter at school in La Crescenta, filled my head, yet a sense of
comfort allowed me to drive toward home, somehow knowing that our
fire department would have the situation under control.
As I drove home, thick black smoke covered our part of the city,
but the flames were nowhere in sight. My children were safe at home
with my wife, unaware of the danger they were in that day.
It's late now, and though my time is precious, so much more are my
family and my home. Which is why I'm sitting up alone, writing this
letter, as my family sleeps soundly because of the swift and brave
action of the Glendale and local community fire departments and the
helicopter and water-dropping planes, whose pilots and crews risked
their lives today so that I can continue to go about my life, knowing
that my family will be safe under the watchful eye of our local and
community fire departments.
Thank you all for a job well done! Good night and God bless!
BRIAN ARMSTRONG
Glendale
Put aside the rancor and help build a new shelter
The totally untrue and hate-filled comments of one Elizabeth
