I live in Chico California and the areas surrounding Chico are still being ravaged by this years wildfires. Fire fighters from several states have been brought in to help fight these fires and many Norcal residents have been evacuated and there a lot of people that have lost their homes in this years fires with more losing homes every day.
Ingrid Taylar has a blog and has a post here on how to help. Please take a look and if there is anything you can do help these people I would be eternally grateful.
Our valley is filled with smoke and ash from these fires. When I walk out side it is like seeing a fog blanketing our area and breathing is not always easy once you walk outside. There are warnings in our area not to go outside unless you need to and even then they recommend wearing a mask of some sort.