Overcast ruled much of the area this morning, only to give way to sunshine and temperatures in the 70's in the early afternoon. The fact that there was even overcast this morning was a nice treat, as this is not typical for the summer around here. I figure, as long as temperatures don't creep into the triple digits, as tends to be the case around here, I'll be content.
Work was work. I had to leave the office earlier than I had intended because it got way too cold in there for me to stay and work comfortably. I hate that I get cold pretty easily these days, because years ago, that was definitely not the case. Years ago and when I was 30 pounds heavier, I was seemingly impervious to all forms of cold. Now, when my cubicle reaches temperatures in the low 70's, I can't handle it anymore, at least not for an extended period of time. It's terrible. I haven't started shivering, or reaching for a blanket, or anything along those lines, but it wouldn't surprise me if I were to get to that point and start bundling up. I guess I shouldn't complain, because a year ago around this time, the AC was unreliable and really didn't work most of the time. I'll take temps in the low 70's, because last year, my cubicle was habitually in the low 80's. Those 10 degrees really do make a difference.
I've never really been the type to watch or even follow the local news, but for some reason, here I am. The theme of these next three news stories will be "fire". Around these parts, especially during the summer, there's always a threat of a brush fire. One of the nearby communities happened to catch fire again. I want to say that this same community caught fire earlier in the year. I guess that area is pretty susceptible.
Say hello to Moreno Valley, CA. When I first saw the smoke in the sky yesterday afternoon, I knew that something was burning. I just didn't know where. I wasn't in the mood to hop in the car and take a drive in the direction of the smoke. When I found out it was Moreno Valley, I wasn't surprised. Of late, it seems that that place is always on fire.
Upon further research, indeed, Moreno Valley was on fire back in April. Moreno Valley isn't that far from me, but rest assured, I was in zero danger of being even remotely affected by this fire yesterday or that fire in April. The smoke from both of these fires was far enough to where I didn't smell it. It was still visible though.
I don't know what's in the water or the air, but you know that something's not right when you have full-on buses catching fire. This bus fire occurred this past Friday morning, 06/26/26. The following is the accompanying news feed to this video.
HESPERIA, Calif. (VVNG.com) — A charter bus carrying mostly juveniles and several adult chaperones returning to Arizona from a church camp caught fire Friday morning on northbound Interstate 15 near the U.S. Highway 395 off-ramp, north of Ranchero Road in Hesperia.
According to California Highway Patrol logs, the incident began at 10:06 a.m. on June 26, 2026, after a tire tread struck the bus, prompting an officer to stop on the right shoulder. Moments later, smoke began pouring from the vehicle.
About two minutes later, the bus was reported to be smoking heavily. CHP requested the fire department and advised that all passengers were being evacuated. No injuries were reported.
The Gray Line charter bus was transporting mostly juveniles and several adult chaperones who were traveling home to Arizona after attending a church camp at Biola University, a private evangelical Christian university in La Mirada.
As the fire intensified, CHP closed the No. 3 and 4 lanes before expanding the closure to three of the four northbound lanes to allow firefighters to safely battle the blaze.
At approximately 10:16 a.m., responders reported the fire was actively burning and advised that a complete freeway closure could become necessary if traffic breaks could not be maintained. By about 10:30 a.m., CHP reported firefighters were gaining control of the blaze while traffic breaks continued.
A SigAlert was issued at 10:51 a.m. for the closure of the No. 3 and 4 northbound lanes for approximately one hour. The resulting traffic backup stretched into the Cajon Pass, with delays extending south to Oak Hill Road.
After the fire was extinguished, firefighters removed luggage from the bus’s undercarriage storage compartments and carried it to the front of the vehicle, where the juveniles and their adult chaperones retrieved their belongings before boarding a replacement bus.
After retrieving their belongings, the juveniles and their adult chaperones later boarded a replacement bus to continue their trip home to Arizona.
By 10:48 a.m., the No. 2 lane had reopened, restoring two northbound lanes while firefighters and tow crews continued working at the scene.
It's not unusual to see all kinds of crap on the freeway, especially tire treads. Through the years, I've seen all kinds of stuff on the freeway, including clothes, furniture, full-sized tires, and even animal carcasses. I just never would have guessed that those tire treads could cause stuff to catch fire, especially buses.
Now, normally, I wouldn't care about buses when they catch fire, being that this isn't the kind of thing that happens around here all that often.
But with this particular bus fire, not only was it local to me, but I was actually driving by it as was happening.
I wasn't on the freeway, though I could see that traffic was backed up. I was on Mariposa Road, which runs parallel to northbound Interstate 15. At the time I had driven by, the fire had been completely extinguished. Much of the entire bottom of the bus, where luggage is stored, was completely gone. There were kids and adults standing along the side of Mariposa Road, which I, and a lot of other motorists, happened to be driving on. I think I was amongst many drivers who thought that they'd be able to circumvent the traffic that had accumulated on the freeway, by exiting onto the adjacent streets. I just happened to be going about my business on this same street, when I saw everyone trying to exit and essentially go around what firefighters were doing. Thankfully, I wasn't stuck in this traffic on the side street for too long. I grabbed lunch not long thereafter.
By the time I left the area and made my way on the I-15, traveling southbound in the opposite direction, traffic had returned to normal on both sides of the freeway.
Had any of these fire incidents taken place anywhere else or even further from where I live and work, I might not have even written about any of them.
Sometimes when things happen to hit close to home, maybe they become a bit more relevant than they need to be? Moreno Valley is always on fire. Buses don't typically catch fire, whether in Hesperia, or really on many of these California freeways.
What's even more rare is that I happen to be in the vicinity when a bus does happen to catch fire, regardless of reason or cause.
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