But a drive through the charred neighborhoods around Altadena shows that the fires ... Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines ...

Authorities are asking the public for help in their search for several Altadena residents who remain unaccounted for after the deadly Eaton Fire burned thousands of homes.

Widely cited as the first major Black woman author of science fiction, Butler grew up near Altadena, in Pasadena, and spent much of her life in Southern California before moving to the Seattle ...

The ferocious flames that tore through the foothill community of Altadena and ... devastating Southern California firestorms. Red flag warnings in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside ...

By TERRY TANG, JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER and JAE HONG ALTADENA, Calif. (AP) — The sight of celebrity mansions and movie landmarks reduced to ashes can make it seem like the wildfires roaring

The smoke has yet to settle in Southern California, where thousands are reeling from the devastating impacts of a series of ongoing fires in the Los Angeles area. Just how far are they from San Diego?

As the Pacific Palisades fire scorched more than 200 acres, billowing smoke was visible for miles. One surfer road a wave, with smoke in the background. Two other people laid on the sand, a white plume nearly filling the sky behind them. And a pair of bicyclists pedaled along the beach against an afternoon sky made twilight by the looming smoke.

During times of high fire danger, utility companies like San Diego Gas & Electric have made it a practice to turn off electricity in certain places as a precaution. In Los Angeles, some residents are blaming Southern California Edison for the wildfire disaster,

I started receiving texts from other friends who were fleeing Altadena. Families like Jeff and Kevin, two Marines who fell in love in the service, got married at the Altadena Town & Country Club, and had a beautiful baby boy together.

Rochele Jones, the couple’s 42-year-old daughter, said her parents and other family members collectively lost more than a dozen homes in Altadena. “It’s gut-wrenching,” she said. “You had your family around and when you had an issue you could turn to your family for help.

To many ecologists, economists and other experts on California wildfire risk, the vow to rebuild is part of a familiar California cycle as predictable as the Santa Anas: We keep putting homes in the path of the flames.

Jay Christensen, a Fort Dodge native and 1978 graduate of Fort Dodge Senior High, spent 20 years at the Los Angeles Times, with previous stops in Colorado Springs and Sacramento. Follow him on Instagram: @jaychristensenphoto.