Eyewitness: 'My eyes are burning'

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Wildfires in southern California have killed at least two people and driven hundreds from their homes. As the flames advance, people in the vicinity of the fire have been describing their experiences.

CHRIS GILBERT, 22, GRAPHIC DESIGNER, HIDDEN HILLS

Thousands have been evacuated from the fires in the San Fernando ValleyYou can smell it just stepping outside. The smoke is very thick in the air, and even inside the air quality seems poor, my eyes are burning.

Just driving through the [San Fernando] valley ensures that ash accumulates on your car windscreen quickly.

The house smells like smoke and my best estimate is that it is 10-15 miles away. You can see a glow outside, but it's not easy to get up to the fire and see it because a lot of roads have been blocked off by the police.

That's good, because the fire can move really fast.

I live in a small community called Hidden Hills. It's a really pretty place. It's really hot all the time and it's dry, so it's a real fire risk. So when these big fires come around, we're always in danger.

My little brother goes to school in Chatsworth, an area really close to the fire. His classes have been cancelled for tomorrow.

We've all packed up a bag with a few days' worth of clothes and a few of our most valuable things, in case we are evacuated.

A lot of people have been evacuated and everyone is talking about the fires. Everyone just wants to make sure they are connected. A lot of people in our family are nervous for us up here, but we just have to wait and see.

I have been intermittently opening my blinds. Now that the sun has gone down, it's harder to see what's going on. When the sun is up, it illuminates the smoke hanging in the air.

JOSEPH FUHR, NORTH HOLLYWOOD

, I can see gigantic billows of smoke climbing over the hills and making the sky hazy At night I can see the glow of the fires on the other side of the hill bright as day, even though they're miles away. The tables on my porch are collecting layer upon layer of ash every hour. You can smell the burning in the air.

The air quality is tolerable, but I can tell there is a difference. I've gotten a couple bloody noses for no apparent reason other than the exceptionally dry air and dust brought by the Santa Ana winds. I can tell I can't breathe as deeply as usual and my eyes start burning if I am outside for too long.

I'm not at risk of being evacuated, nor have I had to stop daily activities. Several highways in the vicinity of the fires have been shut down which has caused traffic problems in the surrounding areas as well as making it difficult for commuters.

Like the wildfires we had last spring, I can see gigantic billows of smoke climbing over the hills and making the sky hazy.

I live in the valley, and it seems as if the smoke floods into the valley but up instead of down - the hills keeping the smoke trapped inside. If the haze gets anywhere as bad as it was eight months ago, then the sun will start to look orange and the atmosphere will be clouded in a red haze. It feels rather apocalyptic.

MATTHEW HORNBEEK, STUDENT, THOUSAND OAKS

From my home in Thousand Oaks, half of the sky has been grey all day. During the day, there are plumes of smoke across the sky.

My home is in no particular danger. There are no mandatory evacuations here. But the air quality is poor and I have asthma which makes it difficult to breathe.

We're used to these fires every season. When the fires have come before, we have had a few days where it snows ash. That's kind of strange, surreal. You don't get snow in California. it's very windy- whenever the winds come around we tend to get these fires.

I think the ash fall will come and that will make my breathing more difficult than usual.