posted on October 26, 2003 07:58:40 PM new
Hi, everyone. Add me to your prayer list! I'm in Idyllwild, in the mountains, 6,000 ft., in Riverside County. Our San Jacinto mountain range is the next one over from the San Bernardino mountains (San Gorgonio etc.) From our home's back deck we can see plumes from at least half the fires in So. Calif. We've evacuated to our cabin 10 miles away bec. Cal. Edison shut off the electricity ("for 12 hours up to 2 weeks" they said because of fears that downed lines would start fires in our mountains. We have solar power at our cabin so I've been dealing with my closed auctions tonight as best I can.
Odd thing about those Santa Ana winds. We had NO WIND at our Idyllwild home all afternoon; at our cabin 10 miles away the winds were raging. Different canyon, different effect I guess. "They" are predicting winds gone by Tuesday aft. and it won't be a moment too soon for us.
We have our evacuation list, stuff to take from our house after we're back, if we need to leave for a chunk of time. Odd how many things we have that are expendable! It's almost always the "people things" we don't want to do without. Oh, and lipstick and a change of clothes, too!
___________________________________
Junk: Stuff we throw away.
Stuff: Junk we keep.
posted on October 26, 2003 08:09:33 PM new
Hi fenix and local,
I'm close to Santee (which is at the northeastern edge of San Diego city limits for you out-of-towners), but I'm out of state on a business trip for a while. I found out about the fires today from my mom since I hadn't been looking at any news. I'm SO lucky that I have a sister in a non-endangered part of the county who had decided earlier in the day that she would come and get my mom to safety. Right after my sister got there, the police came and told everyone to evacuate in 10 minutes! Luckily, the fire appears to have died down a bit in that area. When my mom asked me what she should start packing, I couldn't even think. I didn't realize until later that I never thought of all our family pictures (almost 100 years of them)! I spent the evening on the phone to family and friends around the country letting them know that my mom was OK and asking for prayers. I have insurance, but I really have no idea if it would cover what we might lose. I bet anyone who gets through this unscathed will be upping their insurance coverage!
<rant> BTW I wonder if we'd have more firefighters if we weren't spending so #&*@ much money on a stinking baseball stadium downtown. Not to mention that the LOSER Chargers think THEY deserve a new stadium, too.
neroter:
I can tell you're DEFINITELY not from San Diego! We get almost all of our rain in January and February, so it's kind of a "wow" thing to get it at any other time of the year. Our annual rainfall is about 10 inches. I've lived there all my life, and we had some "flood" years in the late '70's (and I think a few years in the '80's) where it got above 20 inches a year. We're now in a Santa Ana condition, which means the humidity is probably around 5% with high winds. Perfect fire weather, especially when a wet winter has made lots of things grow and then get dried out over the long, hot summer.
I sure hope the fire stays died down--I really would like to have a home to go home to..........
posted on October 26, 2003 08:18:42 PM new
Me too. If you've seen footage of the Simi Valley fire, know that on the other side of those mountains lies the Santa Clara River Valley. What is now the Simi fire started one this side (Val Verde/Piru), jumped from the north side of the valley to the south, burned over the mountains to Simi-Moorpark and down the south side of this valley to the end of the range. Earlier this afternoon or evening, there was a flare-up near the fire's origin (apparently; news is hard to come by because the emphasis has been on the other fires--we're "too rural" to be of significant interest, I suppose). It's now moving down the NORTH side of the valley. Earlier today we had a firestorm blow through following the riverbed; fortunately it stayed there and didn't spark anything here in town. This north side fire, though...if nothing stops it it could go all the way to the ocean. That's more than 30 miles. It went nearly 25 miles down the south side in less than 24 hours.
At least I never unpacked the stuff I packed up this morning.
posted on October 26, 2003 08:19:17 PM new
Local - Last I saw it looked like the were having luck on that stand, I hope it holds.
Road - You are definately on the "in my thoughts" list tonight.
I'll be thinking of both of you as I watch the coverage tonight and hoping for the best.
Looks like Scripps Ranch just got hit again with a new outbreak taking 30 of the homes that survived this morning and Pamona is being hit again as well.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on October 26, 2003 08:36:22 PM new
Lurky - wasn't most of the stadium paid for with bonds? If Petco does for the Gaslamp and East Village what Coors Field did for LoDo in Denver, you are going to be loving that park a year from now. Hotel, restaurants, businesses, huge growth, and big tax income from. I live in siteline of Petco and the growth downtown so far has been tremendous and only growing - old buildings being renovated, new million dollar condos, old nearly abandoned buildings being turned into live/work lofts - lots of income and lots of jobs coming into the area. Since there are very few new lots going in think of all the additional income from parking tickets alone . As for the Chargers... could not agree more... let LA have them.
As for Santee, there was a recent report of a new outbreak in Santee but they haven't mentioned it for awhile so it doesn't sound like it's much of one.
Karen - I'm hoping you are on the non ocean side
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
Oh wow...I've got friends who live in that area, a few miles east of I-15. I called them earlier and left a message on their answering machine. I assumed they had evacuated, but the house was obviously still standing since the machine worked. I guess I'll just hope that they (and their house) are safe.
My prayers are going out to all of you who are involved with or endangered by the fires!
Ain't no way I'm EVER going to love that stadium. BTW who pays for the bonds? Isn't it us taxpayers??? How about bonds to fix roads, replace ancient water/sewer pipes, etc.?? (OK, end of rant.) I absolutely DREAD the traffic nightmare that will happen on game days. Freeway access to downtown is going to be absolutely abysmal, because (being Southern California) you're not going to see enough people using public transportation. I have evening obligations downtown during the first two months of the season, and I shudder to think how horrible it's going to be. On the bright side, the Padres are in the toilet--maybe they won't get very many people to come! Yeah--it'll be just like EVERY year!!! <evil grin>
Not lurkyloo on eBay
Edited to add: Ace Parking is probably the only entity that will profit from the parking tickets--they already have pretty much of a monopoly on downtown parking, so I bet they're laughing all the way to the bank...
[ edited by lurkyloo on Oct 26, 2003 08:56 PM ]
posted on October 26, 2003 08:57:24 PM new
Lurky - there have been a lot of people talking about the "answering machine test" today and it kind of baffled me. Are there that many people that still use answering machines as opposed to voice mail? Funny how you assume that eveyone switches wheen you do... of course I still get people doing that Hello... You there?... Pick up!.... thing so I guess not everyone has.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on October 26, 2003 09:16:55 PM new
The bonds are purchased by investors - the tax payers only pay if the revenues are not made to pay for them upon maturity. There was some public funds involved but like I said, if you look at the growth that has followed other similar parks in other cities, even if the team sucks, the area around it does very well. Denvers very happening LoDo area didn't even exist prior to Coors Field.
BTW - Have you been down here lately? I can asure you... road improvements are happening... I wake up to the jackhammers every morning. New sidewalks, resurfacing, new water and sewer pipes going in daily. (Oh yeah - Ace has made its fortune - at least two of it's lots have been sold to developers putting in new scrapers). The city reaps the rewards of the parking tickets, they even already raised the meter fees. I think the first month is going to be a logistical nightmare between all of the one way streets and no turn areas but people will learn. When you consider that only 8000 parking spaces are being added for the 35000 seat ballpark, it's only going to take one trip to figure out the Tolley is the way to go, especially since the Orange line takes you practically to its front door.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on October 26, 2003 10:07:16 PM new
WOW! Fire experts are predicting that the two major fires burning in San Diego will combine sometime tomorrow creating a fire with a 50-60 mile wide front line.
Local - are you still here? For those who are not in the area - the particular fire that is looming over her has eaten 13,000 acres and nearly 60 homes yet is considered one of the smaller ones.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on October 26, 2003 11:15:21 PM new
This is for Lurky... There are fires in Santee right noe but it looks like groups of neighbors and firefighters have so far been able to keep he flames at bay at they did not mention any homes being burned.
As for the lack of fire fighters, that was a big issue tonight with the Fire Cheif but for different reasons than you may think. The San Diego fires broke out last night, but yesterday there were fires going on up north and San Diego crews were sent up to help with the Venutra county and Rancho Cucamunga fires. Apparently the situation is that once a team reports to a fire, they stay until that fires leader releases them. Most of our crews were in Rancho Cucamunga and their fire leader has not released them. They did release one of our fire fighting helicopters but that was about it. They are planning on having access to 9 aircraft total tomorrow
The San Diego fires are now considered the priority one fires in California so any crew that is released from fighting fires in other areas come here but because of the other fires no one was released until just in the past hour. They are not expecting much additional help until Wednesday, They are working on bringing crews in from our of state but they have to come in thru the 15 which is cut off up north.
wgm - they just released projected containments and control data... barring extreme circumstances (like the predicted combining tomorrow of two of the fires) containment is not expected until sometime Wednesday or Thursday, and control not until November 5th.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on October 27, 2003 12:46:58 AM new
Hi fenix,
I haven't been able to sleep and decided to get up and see what was on the internet (can't get coverage of the fires in the middle of the night in NY, natch). I also had trouble earlier getting the SignOnSanDiego website to load. I guess too many people are accessing it for the latest info. Thanks for letting me know about the flames near Santee. A friend of mine is in a nice trailer park at the extreme west end of Santee. She packed up and went to a friend's house around noon on Sunday, and I very much fear for her home. I have another friend on Golfcrest (west side of Cowles Mountain), and I think she may have left before that area was evacuated. As long as it doesn't jump Mission Gorge Road I should be OK. Too much brush around my area that's too close for comfort.
I'm also worried about the two fires possibly combining. That might affect my sister's house where she took my mom (Jamul). I sure hope that doesn't happen....I'll have to try to call them in the morning to see if they're OK. A friend of mine said that one of the news stations he was watching was showing a list of all the streets that had been affected by the fires. He didn't remember what channel it was, but if any San Diego people happen to have seen that too, could you please let me know what station it is (not the channel, please, because of the different cable companies).
posted on October 27, 2003 01:32:32 AM new
NBC was showing streets but those were pretty much the ones in the Scripps area which is just getting hammered. Right now it looks like all of the stations have broken away from coverage to air their prime time schedules - NBC is coming back to coverage at 4am.
SignonSanDiego is proving to be a lousy source for up to date info - they add a new paragraph to the original story once every couple hours. ABCs TheSanDiegoChannel is even worse - they didn't even have mention of the fire s until this afternoon
Here is a run down as of 6pm - since then Scripps and Tierrasanta had big flare ups - The Cedar and Paradise fires are expected to link up.
CEDAR FIRE
Acreage: 115,000
Structures burned: 100 homes in Ramona, 150 in Scripps Ranch, 10 in Tierrasanta, many other structures
Deaths: 9
Injured: 2 firefighters, several civilians
Firefighters on scene: 800+
Aircraft: 2
Containment: None
Start: Oct. 25 between Julian and Ramona
Comments: Extends to Scripps Ranch, Poway, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, portions of Santee, Lakeside and Blossom Valley, Poway, Ramona, El Cajon, San Carlos and Alpine. Air traffic nationwide was disrupted when this fire forced evacuation of a Federal Aviation Administration control center at Miramar.
PARADISE FIRE
Acreage: 7,352
Structures burned: 57
Deaths: 2
Injured: Civilian and firefighters, numbers unknown
Firefighters: 500+
Containment: None
Start: Oct. 26 in Valley Center near Interstate 15.
Comments: Cause is under investigation.
MINE FIRE
Acreage: 15,000
Deaths: None
Structures burned: None
Containment: None
Firefighters: 300
Start: Sunday, Oct. 26 in South County
Comments: The fire prompted voluntary evacuations of parts of eastern Chula Vista and flames skipped over the border into eastern Tijuana. The cause is under investigation.
PENDLETON FIRE
Acreage: 4,740
Structures burned: None
Deaths: None
Injured: 6
Firefighters: 1,000
Containment: 55%
Start: Oct. 21 on Camp Pendleton
Comments: The fire had caused concern earlier this week, threatening homes in nearby De Luz, but no structural damage resulted. Authorities are downplaying early reports that fire was ignited by live ammunition exercises on the base. The cause is under investigation.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on October 27, 2003 01:33:31 AM new
BTW - I have not heard Jamul mentioned all day so they seem to be safe so far.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on October 27, 2003 01:42:26 AM new
Interesting note on the Monday Night Football game that has been moved to Phoenix ... tickets to the game are free with donations being accepted for a relief fund for fire victims.
posted on October 27, 2003 02:41:56 AM new
fenix - thank you for keeping us updated.
The containment/control projections are not good at all. We need a miracle deperately, and I pray it comes soon!
I hope everyone continues to stay safe. I admire those whoand are posting are going through this, and appreciate you letting us know the conditions where you are and how you are doing. Every single one of you is in my thoughts and prayers.
"I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it." - A Few Good Men
posted on October 27, 2003 06:21:56 AM new
My heart goes out to all those living in the fire zones. This has to be a a nightmare beyond belief.
We live on the east coast and hold our breath every time a hurricane approaches the coast. Thank goodness we came through Isabel with only some tree limbs down and some roof leaks that did not do much damage. I have been following McJane's story and can feel the pain that Isabel caused to her family. I know how devastating hurricanes and tornadoes (I grew up in Texas) can be but the idea of fire scares me more.
Every time there is a disaster a reporter sticks a microphone in the face of someone who has just lost their home and says "How do you feel?" How do you think they feel? I am struck that almost always the first thing they mention after being thankful that all their family and pets survived is that they have lost all their family photographs. Lurkyloo mentioned 100 years of family photographs being at risk. (Lurkyloo I hope the fire continues to pass you by.) I am reminded that I need to collect our prized family photographs into one spot so I can grab them if there is ever a danger. In importance they are way behind my husband and dog but they are still more than just objects.
With all hopes for a miracle to bring this nightmare to a close.
-----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o
The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
posted on October 27, 2003 06:48:27 AM new
I agree, SignOnSanDiego is a lousy source--so I've been coming here to see what fenix has to say. Thanks for posting updates! I was concerned that the Cedar and Mine fires would link up--and that would probably endanger Jamul/Spring Valley/etc.
Here's a link to the main story on the website, for those who are curious:
posted on October 27, 2003 10:13:18 AM new
Lurky - there is not the same type of coverge today as yesterday but from what I have seen, Crest really caught hell last night, in some of the area (south of Mountain View near Nancy Jane Park) about 50 % of the homes were destroyed. They did an arial shot of Scripps and it was just boggling, street after street of charcoal, ash and foundations. They have not really mentioned anything about Santee or Jamul areas but If they do I will let you know.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on October 27, 2003 11:16:35 AM new
Thank you so much, fenix! I'm trying not to call my sister too much since they've been told to stay off the phones as much as possible. Gotta pick up a friend at the airport, so I'll give her all the news I know since her parents live in SD and she's been out of the country.
posted on October 27, 2003 12:03:55 PM new
Local - Just want you to know that you are on my mind. Hope everything is well. Escondido seems to be getting it again.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on October 27, 2003 12:07:47 PM new
Just checking in with those of you in SoCal, hoping you are safe. You are definitely in my thoughts
"I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it." - A Few Good Men
posted on October 27, 2003 12:13:47 PM new
I just found this on the web - judging from the time, it is the most recent update (I could be wrong)...
A Look at the California Wildfires
Monday October 27, 2003 3:46 PM
By The Associated Press
Major California wildfires:
-CEDAR FIRE, San Diego County: 9 people dead, 100,000 acres burned, 260 homes destroyed. Started Oct. 25, apparently by lost hunter setting a signal fire. Air traffic nationwide was disrupted when the fire forced evacuation of a Federal Aviation Administration control center. No containment.
-DULZURA FIRE, San Diego County: No deaths, 15,000 acres burned. Started Oct. 26, cause under investigation. No containment. Briefly burned across border into Tijuana, Mexico.
-PARADISE FIRE, San Diego County: 2 people killed, 57 homes destroyed, 15,000 acres. Started Oct. 26, cause under investigation. No containment.
-GRAND PRIX FIRE, San Bernardino County: No deaths, 77 homes destroyed, 52,184 acres. Started Oct. 21, blamed on arson. 25 percent contained.
-OLD FIRE, San Bernardino County: 2 people killed, 425 homes destroyed, 24,000 acres. Started Oct. 25, cause suspicious. 5 percent contained.
-SIMI VALLEY, Ventura County: No deaths, 6 homes destroyed, 80,000 acres. Started Oct. 25, cause under investigation. No containment. Crews working to save Ronald Reagan Library.
-VERDALE FIRE, Los Angeles County: No deaths, 9,000 acres. Started Oct. 24, cause under investigation. 50 percent contained.
-CAMP PENDLETON, San Diego County: No deaths, 4,695 acres. Started Oct. 21 on the Marine base, cause under investigation. 55 percent contained.
-PIRU FIRE, Ventura County: No deaths, 25,000 acres. Started Oct. 23, cause under investigation. 5 percent contained. Threatening Sespe Wilderness and Sespe Condor Sanctuary, but no condors are currently in the refuge.
-MOUNTAIN FIRE, Riverside County: No deaths, 2 homes destroyed, 6,000 acres. Started Oct. 26, cause under investigation. 15 percent contained.
"I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it." - A Few Good Men
posted on October 27, 2003 12:36:45 PM new
Lurky - yesterday you were asking about streets that were listed. They are all in Scripps but here is the list...
Camino Gusto, Caminito Magnifica, Caminito Suelto, Kingspine, Semillion, Birch Bluff Ave, Rues: Riviere Verte, Finisterre, Parc, Touraine, Cannes, Vincennes, Chantemar, Saint Jaques, Chamberry, Cheaumont, and Biarritz. 17 streets, 150 homes - all are east of Pomerado.
The map of the fires shows that only small fingers of fire reached into the northern areas of Santee and don't seem to have reached into the residential areas.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on October 27, 2003 02:58:31 PM new
As I said in a prvious post, I live Saqnta Maria. We are at least 100 miles NNW of the Piru fire in Vewntura county, but the smoke has drifted this far north. We have like a light fog in the air & it really makes your eys burn & nose water. Hard to believe it.
posted on October 27, 2003 03:15:33 PM new
Sanmar - that' what we have here downtown. Everything is smokey and there is a light fall of ash. Going outside reminds me of the pics of China during the SARS scare - everyone is wearing masks. A couple enterprising panhandlers bought packages of masks from the 99cent store (5 masks for .99) and are selling them on the street for $2 each. The light coming thru the windows is markedly orange. It's very surreal.
They are not covering the northern fires here...
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on October 27, 2003 04:16:59 PM new
fenix, thanks SO much for those street names. My friend lives just on the other side of Pomerado Road in that exact area--so his house is quite dangerously close to the fire. Where did you get those names? Was it a website, or did you copy them down from the TV? I just called him and still got an answering machine, so I'm praying that the fire was stopped at Pomerado.
On the LATIMES site they have up to the minute coverage as well as some of the most dramatic photo galleries of all of the major fires going on.
I'm here cozy in Pasadena, nowhere near any of the fires. Altadena (just a couple minutes north) is a frequent fire season victim but so far nothing going on there. It is early into "fire season" though.
My best friend from high school however has a house right in the middle of the Grand Prix area.
I tried calling his house but no answer. I'm mentally freaking out trying to remember his parents first names so I can call them to make sure he is ok and if he needs help.
I worked in restaurants for 15 years. All of the kitchen staff (predominately Mexican) have brothers cousins and friends who worked in landscaping. Every year I would tell them to tell their friends F*** the $15 middle class front lawns they need to get into brush clearing year round.
If you had a hillside million dollar home would you pay a few hundred bucks for a group of guys to clear all brush a month before fire season?? Would you pay $1,000 a year KNOWING you lived in an area with fires every year?
I've been reading a lot of the stories of the people affected. Some of the especially heart breaking stories........
The family who had been living in their VAN for 7 months finally getting things together moved into an apartment LAST MONTH, now burned down.
The young family who had saved up for 5 years to get the down payment for a modest home, burned down.
The people who died defending their homes and people who died trying to escape the fast moving flames.
posted on October 27, 2003 06:07:34 PM new
Lurky the names are posted on one of the SignOnSanDiego pages- there was a map in the Multimedia section of the fire coverage but it seems to be missing now. BTW - they just announced an evacuation of the Rancho Jamul Estates (?). Hope this is not where your sister and mother are.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on October 27, 2003 06:15:22 PM new
This just in from local news; The total area of the fires in CA is now equal to the size of the state of Rhode Island!!!Andf a new fire has broken out north of San Luis Obispo on the Cuesta Grade. Lord give us RAIN!!!
We get almost all of our rain in January and February, so it's kind of a "wow" thing to get it at any other time of the year. Our annual rainfall is about 10 inches. I've lived there all my life, and we had some "flood" years in the late '70's (and I think a few years in the '80's) where it got above 20 inches a year. We're now in a Santa Ana condition, which means the humidity is probably around 5% with high winds. Perfect fire weather, especially when a wet winter has made lots of things grow and then get dried out over the long, hot summer.
. As for the Chargers... could not agree more... let LA have them.