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Habitat for Humanity Groundbreaking, originally uploaded by Living in Monrovia.

I’m happy to say that this project is progressing and 4 families have been chosen for the property. What a cool thing to be a kid in one of those families seeing their house constructed from scratch!

As many of you may know, two fun events will be happening this weekend in Monrovia. The Fire Service Day Pancake Breakfast will be held from 7–11 a.m. on Saturday, May 10th, at Fire Station #1, at 141 E. Lemon Ave.

On Sunday the Monrovia Historic Preservation Group is putting on their annual Mother’s Day Home Tour. This year will be their 26th annual tour, and the homes will range in age from 1887 to 1939.

Learn more about the Pancake Breakfast on their PDF flyer or by calling 626-256-8181 or the Mother’s Day Home Tour by visiting the Monrovia Old House Preservation Group’s website or calling 626-358-7822.

In other news: more free parking in Old Town Monrovia is now available in the Colorado Commons underground parking area. This should make lots of people happy.

Latest reports indicated that the fire has now burned more than 490 acres. Only one small structure has been damaged. The fire is more than 20 percent contained and fire officials expect to need 5-7 days for full containment. Approximately 1000 people have been evacuated, and more are scheduled. For a map of the area burned, click here.
Photo by ssladybug

As you may have noticed, there is quite a bit of smoke in the air, and flames are visible on the hills above Santa Anita Canyon Road. According to the City of Sierra Madre’s website, which will be continuing to post the latest information, there is a mandatory evacuation for residents above Grandview. The fire has burned 21 acres and there have been no fire-related injuries as of this writing.

Those evacuating have been directed to go to the Hart Senior Park House at 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. Firefighters expect to have the fire contained within 24 hours. It is spreading north very slowly.

I drove up Santa Anita a little ways to gauge the fire danger, but unfortunately don’t have good enough camera equipment to get a photo. I saw a couple of determined souls with tripods hoping to get a photo of the blaze. I didn’t stay long as lots of other people had the same idea and the traffic was getting heavy on Santa Anita, and I didn’t want to be part of a headache for police and residents. The smoke was thick enough to come through my air conditioner, and I was happy to get down below back to Monrovia.

Fingers crossed that the firefighters have good luck tonight putting out the flames, as tomorrow’s expected 96-degree heat won’t be helping matters.

Photo by el3ctone