Wildfires and wild wagons

I was going to snap a pic of the Mazda 6 SportWagon I'm driving this week, but said car is now covered by a light sprinkling of ash from the fires in western Los Angeles County. It's an interesting phenomenon -- we're 10 miles away from the fires, far enough into the valley that we're quite safe, but close enough to be blanketed in smoke. Another fire started this afternoon in Wildwood Canyon in Burbank, which just happens to be About Cars writer Jason Fogelson's favorite photography location. The firefighters are doing one hell of a job protecting the houses; so far only one home has been lost, along with a handful of outbuildings. So, back to the 6: It's outstanding! The "Sport Wagon" moniker is often used to add character to what is, by nature, a dull sort of vehicle, but in the 6 it's totally accurate: If you didn't look in the rear-view mirror, you'd hardly realize you were driving a wagon. I love the power, I love the handling... but right now I really love the pollen filter built into the climate control system, which seems to work quite well on smoke. My test drive report will be up soon; meanwhile you can check out Philip Powell's five-star test drive of the Mazda6 sedan here. -- Aaron Gold