By DILLON RING | Junior Reporter
If you were preparing for an evacuation from your home that means so much to you and were told to only bring a small bag of your things with you, what would you bring?
I had to face this specific dilemma myself when we had to fathom just the possibility of evacuation from the recent Mandeville Canyon Fire.
I took a beach bag and filled it with two changes of clothes, a yearbook from kindergarten, a flashlight and a portable phone charger with a cord. Did I choose wisely?
Sunday started out as a usual day. My friend was coming over at 1 p.m. for a play date. But, at 12:45 p.m., we began hearing sirens roaring down our street.
At first, we did not pay much attention to it. My friend arrived and all was normal, until we saw the smoke. The sky was gray, and it smelled like a burning barbeque.
My friend had to leave early because his dad learned about the danger and picked him up near Sunset Boulevard, which was jam-packed with cars. Nobody could enter Mandeville Canyon Road from Sunset.
My nana, who also lives in Mandeville Canyon, was actually at the market when the fire started, so she was forced to park on Old Ranch Road and walk down Sunset to Mandeville with groceries in hand, where our car was parked on the other side of the barricade.
According to the Los Angeles Times, over 150 firefighters combated the brush fire in Mandeville Canyon, which was supposedly caused by a gas-driven weed whacker (according to examiners).
A private company was attempting to remove flammable material from around some Mandeville Canyon Road homes (at the 2960 block) when the device’s muffler was upset and created a spark, which caused a small fire (on the dead brush that was being cleared out), which then rapidly spread in “all directions,” according to LAFD Deputy Chief Trevor Richmond.
As a thank you to the brave firefighters who saved our canyon, my nana, sister and I brought Krispy Kreme donuts to the Brentwood Fire Station to honor all their hard work!
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