Sleeping today was kind of a bitch because of the activity in the neighborhood.

Around 3:30 a 40 acre fire broke out on Beacon Hill, which is about a block from my house. Planes and helicopters were flying directly above my place in a desperate attempt to dump water and retardant on the blaze before it got totally out of hand. There were a few evacuations and they closed off most of the roads leading into my neighborhood, but it seems like they got it under control for the most part by the time I left for work.

Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve had fires up there. Last summer there was a whole rash of them… all started by kids with lighters (I was stupid enough to walk up and take pictures of one of those events).