Southern California Fires, October 25-26 Taken in San Bernadino (towns of La Verne and Claremont) I drove up Saturday morning to visit some friends who moved from San Diego to La Verne recently. It was pretty smokey most of the day, with a light but constant flurry of ash falling down. East of where they lived, fires were raging in Rancho Cucamonga (yes, that's a real place). Sunday morning, we awoke to news that the fires were spreading to Claremont (a bit east) and La Verne, so my friends packed up and headed out as did I. After driving southwest a half hour, I finally escaped the smoky air and was relieved to see blue skies.