Commentary: My fire story: Nature is full of surprises

Early in the morning on the day when the first signs of the La Tuna fire appeared, I was coming back from my usual hike on the trail that starts at the Angeles National Forest fire station on Angeles Crest Highway when I saw in the distance that a small hillside that usually has only a few pink flowers on it in spring was now — at the very end of summer— dotted in orange-colored growths.

My heart leaped.

“What a wonderful place this is to live,” I thought, as I have often thought before. “Nature here is so full of surprises.”

As I got closer, I saw more clearly what they were: tired firefighters stretched out on the ground.

Reg Green lives in La Cañada. His website is www.nicholasgreen.org.