This past weekend, many of us began to get very excited about the cooler weather, but little did we know that with cool weather, we would soon be hit with the Santa Ana winds. A lot of us woke up early Monday morning from the sounds of wind and trees hitting our windows, but what soon happened shocked many of us.

As we logged into our zooms and sat in our first period, news that a fire in Irvine started and that it would be named the “Silverado Fire”. Over 90,000 people in Irvine were evacuated, and two firefighters suffered great injuries and are still in critical condition (nytimes.com). The day continued as we moved through third period. 

Fifth period came by quickly and that is when news started to spread fast that a fire had started in Yorba Linda and we would soon become affected by a very local fire. Flames started to pop up in the Hidden Hills area at Mission Hills lane and Skyline drive. After this fire was put to rest, another set of flames escalated after 1 PM near Blue Ridge Drive and Big Horn Mountain Way, therefore, naming this fire the “Blue Ridge Fire”.

The fire has forced A total of 4,688 homes to evacuate, with about 2,850 people on evacuation watch in Chino Hills (ktla.com). This included the local elementary school, Bryant Ranch, who started their hybrid schedule last week and had a good amount of students on campus due to in-person instruction. These students were quickly bussed to Esperanza High School where they would be picked up by parents.

Then, at around 8:30 PM on Monday night, the fire had grown up to 3,000 acres and was 0% contained. Additionally, 2 Yorba Linda homes have undergone severe damage from flames, however, that is not stopping many Yorba Linda residents as firefighters are reporting that many are staying behind to fight the flames themselves.

This frightened many Yorba Linda High School Students, including many students near San Antonio who decided it was best to evacuate due to the sight of flames coming up the hill. On the same note, displaced residents are encouraged to go to Thomas Lasorda Jr. Field House at 4701 Casa Loma Ave. by Yorba Linda Middle School, and can leave animals with O.C. Animal Care Services in Tustin.

With so many Yorba Linda students, staff, and teachers being evacuated, PYLUSD made the executive decision to declare an emergency non-instructional day for all students. This means that all students do not need to attend their zooms and are encouraged to stay safe with their families as the flames are expected to grow as the Santa Ana winds increase. 

Language Arts and Publication teacher, Mrs. Shay (S) stated that “