It's been 11 days now since the fires in the Los Angeles area first broke out and tens of thousands of residents who were forced to evacuate may have to wait another week yet before they can get back into their neighborhood to see what is left, if anything, of their homes.
The same frustration and despair they are feeling is sane way the thousands of people in San Diego County felt after the big and deadly fires here in 2003 and 2007.
But the search for victims, the toxic ash, the gas leaks and other problems like those make it impossible for anyone to return yet to many of the burned out areas.
Maybe people in L-A County, when they are allowed back in to see what has happened and after they deal with the shock and the grief, can take some hope from the thousands who had to deal with the same thing in those still historical wildfires here in San Diego.
The recovery and the rebuilding will take time for sure, but the stories we are hearing from the many across San Diego from Scripps Ranch to Crest, who years ago suffered the same way, about the ways they went about looking forward and not behind will help the people in L-A.
When it comes to wildfires in California, we are all neighbors.
(Photo Getty Images)