I just hope nothing too bad happens to san diego. I hear there is a 4 to 1 hot girl to guy ratio.

-Rudey
--Sending some good vibes to you dudes!

I was watching TV this morning and Fox News had Geraldo reporting from right near one of the blazes. It looked like a wasteland. My prayers go out to those in that area.

yes its absolutely disgusting and terrible in san diego right now, so many people left homeless with no place to go, the air is so bad that we cant even go outside and the entire sky is brown orange and yellow.... it feels like we are in the aftermath of a devistating war... everyone is suffering from smoke inhalation and all schools in the area have been shut down for the past 2 days. the winds have picked up today and it just seems like its getting worse here.... darker and ashy-er by the hour... my thoughts and prayers go out to all the families affected by this disaster... 13 out of the 17 deaths from these socal fires have been in SD, 939 homes in SD burned... 1500 in california... this is terrible guys
xoxo
chantillylace

Not to sound like an ass, but they are TOTALLY downplaying the San Diego fires. It seems all the news attention has gone to the LA/San Bernadino fires.

You know who I feel for? The supermarket workers who are on strike and whose house burned down. That really sucks.

Stan,

I totally agree with you - the Los Angeles news stations show just a few minutes of San Diego to recount the number of acres burned, number dead etc. They did a bit more coverage today after it was announced that some of the fire fighters have been pulled from the lines in order to force them to get some rest. They were showing people from the area protesting it and while I understand where they're coming from I understand why the fire fighters need some rest. Most of these guys have been on the line for 4 days straight with maybe one or two hours of sleep a day. If they keep fighting the fires without any rest the death tool will rise with fire fighters in the numbers.

My brother lives in Washington State between Tacoma and Olympia. He called and said he saw a convoy of Canadian and Northern Washington Fire Trucks heading South down the interstate. He isn't sure if they're coming to Cali or if they are going to Oregon to cover the Oregon crews that are moving down to help. We've got crews being sent from Nevada to help out now.

To put the fire in perspective for everyone, with the 10 fires in California (and now a couple in Mexico including one in Tijuana near the border) more then 522,000 acres have burned. That is 815 square miles or 3/4 the size of the state of Rhode Island.

Watching the news there is no end in sight at this point. There is even talk that it won't be stopped until it hits the coast in Malibu which is just inconceivable to me.

One of the local NBC affiliates here in Los Angeles lost their live camera truck after they had problems getting it started and getting their antenna down. Chuck Henry, the reporter, says he and the camera man are only alive because of the fireman who came to their rescue. The fire moved so fast that even the firetrucks have been slightly scorched before they could get them moved.

Editing the post to add the news I just heard. I'm not sure the exact size of the town but it was just announced that the entire city of Cuyamaca was wiped out by the fires in San Diego. Maybe one of our San Diego GCrs know more about it. It's inconceivable that a whole city can be gone.

Carolyn

My heart goes out to those that have lost their homes. Luckily our girls at Cal State San Bernardino are safe...although one had an extremely close call.

Now, my mom has to evacuate..she lives in Big Bear. I thought I was going to be trapped in Hesperia where the high school where I work is (Hesperia High School, an evacuation site). Thank God the Cajon pass going south was open. When I drove up this morning there were big flames in Devore.


I just hope they can get a handle on all of these fires soon.

I was watching the coverage this morning and it looked like they were getting a handle on the Rim of the World and Simi Valley fires. Now this evening its as out of control as ever.

That is a scary thought, that it might not stop until it hits the coast in Malibu.

Simi could spread south into San Gabriel valley--and then into Burbank and then into Hollywood Hills--at which point-- LA would be looking at the kind of city/home devastation that San Diego has seen. Not to mention I live in the hills in the city. Gulp.

San Diego is one of my favorite cities in the world. What is happening there breaks my heart. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by these fires, directly and indirectly.

The news reported 90% of the structures in Cuyamaca were gone. I asked my dad how big Cuyamaca is, he said only about 900 people. So it's teeny tiny. A lot of Julian got hit this afternoon too. Julian only has a few thousand people so they'll definitely be feeling the loss too.

my uncle got sent down to the socal area with a team of bay area firefighters. and my old college roomie lives in the San Diego area.

so think happy thoughts for me.

it just gets sadder and sadder...
i was trying to get my students to seriously look at what's happening and they couldn't get it done.
so...so...sad.
my heart is with all.
praise god they get it under control.

All of this is really hard to deal with for anyone in or related to anyone in the SoCal area. My ex has had to help evacuate 3 aunts, an uncle, his grandmother, and his own home up in the San Bernardino area. I was there this past weekend and last night and his house had a perfect view of the Grand Prix fire as it came around into Lytle Creek (right by Devore) and from his backyard, you could see the Old Fire only about a mile away. It's terrible- none of his family member have lost homes yet (his grandmother and mom lost their homes in the Del Rosa area in the Panoramic fire in the 80s), but his best friend's home has burned to the ground.

CntryZta, is it true that the parkings structure for the stadium at CSUSB burned down? That's what I heard, but since it's nearly impossible to see anything right now with the smoke, I'm not sure. And have they allowed students back at CSUSB yet? I know they evacuated the dorms.

I really hope all this gets better soon, although I think it will be at least another week to get it more contained in every area. The Grand Prix fire has been going for a week now... so scary.

My thoughts are out with anyone and everyone who is affected by this right now...

so i just found out that one of aour pledges, rick, one of the nicest guys. someone who is not here for th eparty, but is really a quality guy, lost his parents house, the new house they were building as well, and his grandfather dies as well. i am at such a loss for words for him. it is like 3 slaps in the face for him, and it just is not cool. my roommate is a member of out national ecexutive board, and he said they are gonna try to help out.
the last thing i want to see is any pledge have to drop because of any financial issue due to these fucking fires. i serioulsy dontn think i have been more effected by a disaster as this one

For those of you near the fires....my heart goes out to you. I hope things get back under control very very soon.

With all the stuff the US has been through lately....major blackouts, fires, hurricane......ever wonder if someone is trying to tell us something? Even if it's not a "someone" talking....is Nature sending us a message?

If any of you are taking any pictures of the fires, please post them here. It's one thing to edited news reel, but I like seeing "amateur photos" that people have taken.

God Bless....
PsychTau

The smoke and haze from the fires has reached Las Vegas. The smell is pretty strong and visibilty is down. They have asked everyone to stay indoors because the air quality is so poor. I can't even imagine what it's like there, but we are at least 150 miles away and we are being affected.

The smoke and haze has been clearing up here in Irvine but I'm wondering how it is back home in San Diego. Luckily the fire is just around Escondido and Poway for now. A couple of my high school teachers already lost their homes and one of my new member Tau Beta Sigma sister almost had to evacuate from her house in Poway.

Good thing I didn't go home for the weekend cuz I might have been stuck there since they closed the main interstates.