In October 2007, the devastating Harris fire destroyed much of San Diego's rural east county. I took this photo of my father when we were stuck in our home, in the middle of the night, with no electricity, no phone, and no news.
With optimistic spirits and nothing better to do, my old man made cookies by candlelight.
The next day, the sheriff and border patrol enacted a mandatory evac of the whole valley. We grabbed what we had to and spent the next week living out of our cars in a high school parking lot, still absolutely uncertain of the extent of the damage to our area.
News reports conflicted, some days saying the whole region had burned. We didn't know until the fire was contained and the evac was lifted that our home was untouched; many friends and neighbors were not so lucky.