Congressman Raul Ruiz has emotional trip to fire ruins

As Congressman Raul Ruiz toured the ruin from the Mountain Fire, his eyes gave away a personal connection to the charred land.

“Driving up (Highway) 74, I remembered my father bringing me up here every once in a while to escape the heat for picnics. Those were great memories. He passed, so I cherish those memories. So seeing the fire burn on those mountains and seeing how it’s changed is painful because it’s like some of my memory burned as well,” Ruiz said.

A small but true empathy for those who lost homes and treasures.

“I can imagine how it feels for the people who live here and feel even more connected to the land and the environment here,” Ruiz said.

Waking up to the news of more containment was a relief.

“Men and women on the field are starting to see some improvement,” Ruiz said.

Cal Fire had some other positives to report.

“We were able to take advantage this morning of the cloud cover that kept the fire less active. The cloud cover increased humidity,” Dan Felix of Cal Fire said.

The weather change can bring possibly just as much bad as good, though.

“The other thing with thunderstorm is it’s an indicator of instability and that allows the fire to burn more freely up to the atmosphere so that’s not a good thing,” Felix said.