The major winds that fanned the flames of all these fires died down a few days ago. However, the fires are still there, and the pall of smoke from them is lingering over one of the largest population areas in the United States.
Smoke 1: Yesterday (Oct 25) I needed to fly into John Wayne Airport in Orange County, CA. When I got near, the smoke was so thick I had to get an IFR clearance and shoot an ILS approach into SNA. I took this picture of what is locally called Saddleback mountain, which is the largest peak of the Santa Ana mountains, gloomily looming through all the smoke.
Smoke 2: Being vectored to final approach course at SNA. I could barely see the ground, even though surface visibility was being reported as 4 miles. I could see way farther than that in this pic, but I certainly couldn't see very many landmarks!
Smoke 3: After departing SNA and getting back up on top of the smoke at 9000ft, I took this pic of the plume of smoke rising above the Santa Ana mountains.