I was in Los Angeles this week and there was a huge fire (4000 acres) burning in the mountains around Malibu -- the Franklin Fire. I drove down to see a friend in Santa Monica, directly south of there. On the way home on the San Diego freeway (405) a second fire was burning right up to the highway and there was a looming wall of smoke filling the sky to the west that went on for miles. It was unnerving. This was really close to the Getty Center (big art museum complex) and near Brentwood (a prosperous enclave made famous by the OJ Simpson murders). The fire dept is making slow progress, so it's now 30% contained. Up from 6% when I left. Thankfully it's raining now, so I hope that helps a bit.