Seems a prominent theme in my weekend life. We just go a new woodstove. Our old one wasn't very safe anymore, so we got rid of it after last winter. It's nice to have a cozy wood fire burning next to me again, but a new stove has to burn off all it's newness stuff. We were exiled from our family room Friday night. It was just as well.
My husband has been clearing brush from our woods this past summer. The previous land owner/developer had the land selectively timber cut. They're not very tidy going after THAT tree over there, so we had tracks of downed saplings and stuff. Anyway the brush pile that we'd built up was massive - about 15ft high. Hubby decided to torch it Friday. Seeing as the responsible thing to do was tend to the inferno to insure it didnt' get out of control, we were up ALL night Friday hanging out in the woods. I've not pulled an all-nighter in, like, forever.
The wildfires in Southern Cali - BRUTAL eh. NPR has some good photos up of the fires and the devastation. To any Allakin that may have been, or may be in harms way...good luck - stay safe.