It's burning in Southern California.......
 

It's raining ash right now from all the brush fires going on in SoCal. I'm up here in UC Irvine and back home in San Diego it's burning as well. To the northwest and northeast are two different fires as well. South of me it's burning at the Marine base at Camp Pendleton.

I'm in southeastern San Diego County right now. No fires here, but the smoke is incredible.

My mom's house is 10 minutes away and is pretty much going to be gone, two of our pledge's houses are gone, I watched my best friend from high school's street burn down. My cousin's house in Mira Mesa is in danger and they've been evacuated. One of those pledges basically gets to watch the place where he grew up be destroyed.

There's seriously no stressing how bad the fire is. We're 35 minutes away and we can't even see the sun, it's just been an orange haze and ash has covered EVERYTHING. Delta Gamma has cancelled the basketball tourney cause no one can breathe, and they're talking about canceling class.

Sad day indeed. But I know the guy upstairs works in wierd ways, and I just have faith everything will work out.

My place in Irvine might be used by my SDSU KKPsi bros and TBS sisters if they have to evacuate.

I woke up this morning and my entire bed and night stand were covered in ash. My bed's under my window and I left it open last night. Stupid me. My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have lost their house. Hopefully this will all end soon. :(

HI There,

Where I live in Carson (suburb of L.A near the beaches), we're at least 40 miles from any of the forest fires blazing in Southern California but the smoke is so bad that the whole Los Angeles Basin has this orange haze throughout. I washed my car this morning and have a 1/4 inch layer of ash on the car already. When you walk outside it's so smoky that you would think you're right next to a campfire. We had to close up all the windows and doors to the house because the house was starting to smell like smoke.

My parents and I are amateur radio operators and both of them are members of the disaster communication network for the county. We just heard over the radio that a small fire has now been spotted near Malibu, a water dropping helicopter has already been dispatched. Hopefully it is able to stop it before it spreads too mcuh.

Can anyone do a rain dance for Southern California, we could really use it about now - they can't even estimate when the fires are even going to be contained at this point.

Carolyn

This is so sad.

Brings back memories of the huge Colorado fires last summer. Ash on everything at the house -- including a fair amount inside the house. Choking smoke and, as described earlier, the orange glow of the sun thru the smoke.

And we were thirty-five miles away from the fire.

Denver, like LA is basically in a basin and the smoke, etc. is held close to the ground.

What a mess. I feel for all of you.

The media isn't doing a good job of covering everything. The LA news channels aren't showing what's going on back home in San Diego so I'm left clueless. My only news from back home are my friends and some of them have packed up just in case they need to evacuate.

Hey Mike,

The TV news crews aren't doing a good job of covering San Diego but put on KNX 1070 or possibly KFWB 980 on am radio. They have been doing a good job of saying what is going on in San Diego. KNX especially this afternoon was bringing on emergency personnel from San Diego to report what is going on, what roads were closed, etc.

Carolyn

We have our own brushfires here, but I can only imagine what it's like over there right now.

I was talking to a friend from San Diego and we kept on getting cut off. When we didn't get cut off, the phone convo had horrible, horrible static. I kept on getting pissed off before he told me it was because of the fires. He was surfing today when he noticed that it was snowing....ash.

Maybe Cali will be more open to logging companies doing some limited cutting in the future? This has really helped some areas and lack of it has really hurt other areas.

A couple years ago, we had a huge fire come very close to my parents' house in Oklahoma. They live kind of out at the edge of suburbia (semi-boonies) and it's not a great feeling when it's that close.

Stay safe!

Actually for a lot of the fires it's not trees that are burning but sage brush. The fires in San Bernardino/Crestline/Arrowhead are trees burning that have been killed by bark beetles and drought for the last few years. The areas around Simi Valley are very few trees, mostly sage brush, creosote, and other chapparal. Plus a lot of the areas that are burning are next to developments where if there were trees they were cut down when they built the developments. Most of So. Cal would actually be more desert like except for the fact we use a lot of water from the aquaduct and from the Colorado River.

I'm not as familiar with the areas of the fires in San Diego maybe someone could talk about whether those areas are forested or covered with chapparal instead.

So far the news is now saying there are 10 major fires burning in the So Cal area. Ventura, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Diego counties are all ablaze. None of the fires are even close to being contained. There are fire engine companies coming in from all over the West and we're still going to be shorthanded with fire personnel. It almost seems that the fire trucks are just jumping from area to area just to try to save houses and don't have a chance to actually try to stop the fire.

Now we almost have to pray it doesn't rain for quite a while. They need to get these areas reseeded asap otherwise in December through March you're going to be hearing on the news about massive landslides and floods in these areas next.

Well, I'm off to get ready for work. Let's hope that my building is really a closed ventillation system or it's not going to be a fun day today try to breathe. I was coughing all night long the air quality is so bad. Quite a few school districts have cancelled classes today because of it. The worst part for the kids is that they really shouldn't be going outside to play today.

Carolyn

it's really creep here right now. my friend is staying with me at the phi psi house because she was evacuated. i know a lot of other people who have done the same, and 4 guys in my house have had their parents houses burnt down. there are other guys i know from IFC who have had the same... the sky is orange, and raining ash. the creepy thing is when you go on the 4th floor you can see the fire. they cancled class at sdsu today, and unless this gets better they most likely will cancel it tomorrow too--you cant even breath outside.

All of Cowles Mountain in the San Carlos-Del Cerro/Navajo Park area in San Diego is torched off... I know because I grew up in that area for close to 25 years... My folks went up on Hemingway Drive, up the street from my childhood home off Cibola and they saw the flames on the north side of Mission Gorge at around 4 PMish... These flames jumped over to the south side, near the homes and burned those houses down. The police and firefighters evacuated everyone from Princess View Way to Golfcrest. This burn was after the Scripps Ranch and Tierrasanta torchings.

If the Santa Ana winds pick up more, the burn will go all the way to the US-Mexico border in the East County. The sad part is, there are $$$million dollar homes all in the way. And there is illegal activities--such as meth labs with volatiles... I heard that the firefighters in San Bernadino were trying to put out one fire and a gas main exploded...

The irony is, I have been calling my folks home to see if the answering machine cuts on... It still does... It may mean the answering machine didn't get burnt or the house is still standing...

The police are not letting anyone back into their areas to get anything they forgot at their houses... Out of the 5 cars my dad owns, my folks only take one... Don' t ask why... But my dad was ready to go back and get things after the police had made their annoucement to evacuate.

Fortunately for my family, my folks purchased a condo for me in 1996 near the Stadium in Mission Valley. So my folks and another couple are staying there. But it is very scary and I cannot fathom the stinky smell of burn wood and crap that is pervading the air in San Diego right now.

And they shut down everything!!!

On top of that, Mayor Dick Murphy's former campaign manager lived down the street from me, two houses down from my best friend... And they live across the street from Mission Gorge Road!!! :eek:

Anyhow, any of you spiritual folks out there need to pray for all of the folks in So Cal right now. We are really suffering...

And for you folks that have issues for asking for prayer--don't go there with me right now... Just keep it to yourself right now...

Everyone's cars are covered in ash and everyone's throats and eyes are irritated because you're constantly breathing smoke. I tried to close my room window to preserve the air but it got too stuffy (the dorms at UCI are not air-conditioned) so I'm hesitantly opening it again because i need fresh air even if its not so fresh anymore. This is really unhealthy. My heart goes out to everyone who has family/homes in San Diego and the other areas that are burning right now. Good luck to you all!

Sending good thoughts to you SoCal folks!

Calif. Wildfires Kill 13, Destroy 825 Homes

Monday, October 27, 2003



SAN DIEGO — More than 7,000 firefighters in Southern California are struggling to contain devastating wildfires (search) that have killed at least 13 people and destroyed more than 825 homes in the state's deadliest outbreak of fires in more than a decade.

Hot Santa Ana winds complicated efforts to tame a series of fires that run from the Mexican border to suburbs north of Los Angeles. Weather forcecasters believe conditions will begin to improve on Tuesday and expect a tropical depression to move through the west later in the week.

The wind subsided for a time during the night but picked up again Monday morning in San Bernardino County. San Diego Fire Chief Jeff Bowman cautioned that "winds can kick up very quickly and change the situation."

The Santa Ana wind season usually stretches from September through February, with October often the strongest. The area's rainy season could start any time but heavier rain is not likely until January.

• Photo Essay: Ring of Fire Surrounds Southern California

"People should be indoors for health reasons," San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy (search) said at a press conference Monday. "The air quality is very poor. And people should be near home in case there are shifts in the winds."

Murphy emphasized the importance of employers asking employees to stay home. "We need to conserve electricity and keep people off the roads," he said.

But most importantly, residents should conserve water, Murphy said. "We need every drop of water to fight the fire."

The blazes triggered a harrowing flight to safety for thousands of residents, many of whom had little time to collect cherished possessions before escaping.

"I was grabbing wet towels. Fire was at our feet. It was blazing over our heads and burning everywhere," said Lisza Pontes, 43, recounting her Sunday morning escape from a fire in San Diego County.

The death toll was the worst in the state since the 1991 fire in the Oakland hills of Alameda County that killed 25 and destroyed more than 3,200 homes and apartments.

Airline travel was disrupted, major highways were blocked and some schools were closed. A professional football game was shifted to Arizona.

Bush Asked for Federal Help

Million-dollar homes disappeared in flames almost as fast as canyon brush in San Diego's affluent Scripps Ranch area. In San Bernardino County, a blaze called the Old Fire, which had destroyed more than 400 homes, torched 25 more when it jumped a road and moved into the heavily forested town of Crestline, fire information officer Candace Vialpando of the U.S. Forest Service said Monday.

Gov. Gray Davis asked President Bush to declare Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties disaster areas to qualify them for federal aid. Bush didn't immediately say he would do that, but did pledge Monday to help in any way possible.

"We want to help put them out. I mean, this is a devastating fire and it's a dangerous fire. And we're prepared to help in any way we can," Bush told reporters at the White House.

Cathy Sang-Pio of the American Red Cross said the organization currently has seven shelters operating to help fire victims with immediate needs like damage assessment, shelter and clothing. "We expect 700 to 1,000 more people in the next few hours who need our help as the fires spread," she told Fox News on Monday.

Brandy DeBatte, 21, stayed at her Crestline home until the electricity went out and the smoke started to thicken.

"I got our animals. I got insurance papers. I didn't want to be up there if the town was going to burn down," she said.

Hours later, she had second thoughts as she realized how much she had left behind: "I should have gotten more out, and I didn't."

Cedar Fight Is Deadliest

About 30,000 homes were endangered by the fires, which had consumed more than 330,000 acres, or 500 square miles -- almost half the size of the state of Rhode Island -- of dense, dry brush and trees.

All of the fatalities happened since Saturday. Nine people were killed by the so-called Cedar Fire in San Diego County, the state's largest blaze at approximately 100,000 acres. About 260 homes, ranging from modest to expensive, were destroyed.

The San Diego County victims included two people who died inside their car as they apparently tried to escape the flames, which witnesses said moved so fast they didn't get any warning.

That fire was started Saturday near the mountain town of Julian when a lost hunter set a signal fire, authorities said. The hunter may face charges.

Another fire near San Diego that started Sunday killed two people and destroyed 57 homes while burning about 15,000 acres, authorities said. It also prompted evacuations in northeastern Escondido.

Around the congested suburbs of San Bernardino, a city of about 200,000 some 50 miles east of Los Angeles, one flank of a nearly 80,000-acre fire burned through four towns while the other flank destroyed more than 450 homes. Two fires -- the Old Fire and the Grand Prix -- had merged on Sunday, creating a flame front 35 to 40 miles long.

Two men collapsed and died, one as he was evacuating his canyon home and the other as he watched his house burn, the county coroner said.

Authorities said they were seeking two men for investigation of arson and possibly murder in connection with the San Bernardino fires. Three looters were arrested, police said.

Another 80,000-acre fire, northwest of Los Angeles in Ventura County, threatened approximately 2,000 homes and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

Firefighters were spread thinly around threatened communities, focusing on saving what homes they could. The gusty wind prevented the air tanker drops of retardant and use of backfires that are key tactics of fire containment.

The area is vulnerable because drought and an infestation of bark beetles have killed millions of trees. And in some places, brush has not been trimmed by fire or man for decades.

Some of the evacuations ordered included Indian reservation casinos, California State University, San Bernardino, where fire burned two temporary classrooms and a temporary fitness center, and a state mental hospital.

About 1,100 prison inmates also were evacuated, and at least 200 juveniles were evacuated Sunday from two probation camps, said Ken Kondo, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Probation Department spokesman.

Fire also forced the evacuation of a Federal Aviation Administration control center in San Diego, disrupting air travel across the nation. Some airlines canceled flights into the region.

The National Football League moved Monday night's football game between the Chargers and Miami Dolphins from Qualcomm Stadium, which is being used as an evacuation center, to Tempe, Ariz.

Fox News

My thoughts are with everyone in So Cal!

I'm only a mile or two from Scripps Ranch but luckily we haven't had to evacuate. Mira Mesa High School is an evacuation site so as long as they don't have to move everyone from there we'll probably be okay.

My dad and I drove down to Mission Gorge to check on one of his employees homes but we couldn't get past Princess View. His neighborhood was evacuated but he's stuck in Virginia. Hopefully his home's still standing.

Driving down the freeway it was amazing how charred everything was; but, there were still plenty of trees standing. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we've seen the worst of it. Yesterday it seemed like it was burning everywhere but our neighborhood. It was north, east and west of here.

I'm getting restless being stuck at home though. My office is closed but I just keep thinking of all the work I could be getting done. If the roads weren't closed I'd likely try to go to work!

On top of everything else, my dad had to take my mom to the airport this morning so she could fly back to Wisconsin. My grandmother died this weekend. :o

We have a number of friends whose family homes have burned or are in danger of burning in the Claremont/Simi Valley/Rancho Cucamonga areas.

I've got bad asthma and have tried to stay inside as much as possible, but I've already lost my voice from the smoke and I am 35 or more miles away from the fires.

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by and fighting these fires.

It makes me sick that they suspect most (all?) of them are arson.

Former employee of mine lives in Simi Valley and a really good friend lives in Orange County.

Neither in danger at the moment.

Sending good thoughts toward SoCal.

I live in so california and more importantly i live in the inland empire in victorville. which is 20 minutes from the crestline/ rancho cucomonga/fontana fires are( grand prix fires). Cal State San Berndino is more less closed for the time being as the hill behind it caught on fire.

The pass has been closed really since thursday and i have been stuck here since.

Luckly the fires are burning the opposite way of me but i have a family member who lost a house in claremont and i know a few others who lost houses in rancho cucomonga

It is a light show for sure at night . i can look out my bedroom window on the second floor and it is amazing how HUGE this fire is. i can see huge flames......

For those who didn't notice, I have returned home to the US from England. I am currently staying with my father at my childhood home in the Clairemont area of San Diego. Yesterday was a doosey as the Cedar Fire started to get worryingly close to us....and we live in the city! Tierrasanta is a few miles due east of my house. At one point, an ember or something had caught a segment of Clairemont on fire in a patch of brush adjacent to my high school.

As others have reported, the place is full of ash and smoke. My swimming pool is full of ashes; my car is covered in ash. Last night I walked out to the corner of the street with some neighbours and we watched the sky glow red and orange with the flames in the distance.

My 86 year old grandfather lives in the northeast corner of Mira Mesa which, yesterday, was dangerously close to the devastating Scripps Ranch part of the Cedar Fire. I wanted to go get him but they closed the freeways and the streets were jammed with traffic. I'm happy to report that he's ok and, though he lived close to the fire, they did not evacuate him and his neighbours.

I have friends who live in El Cajon, one whose house is located in an area that is burning. Another friend lived near to the Mission Gorge flare up.

The difficulty is that the news reporting is not all that great in that, understandably, no one seems to know what's going on where. So, I'm having a hard time figuring out what's happening. I feel just awful for the hundreds of people whose houses have partially or completely burnt down. :( That must be heartbreaking for them.

Anyway, the air is a bit clearer today - it's slightly easier to breathe. It sounds like we finally got some reinforcements from Arizona and other locations which is great news.

Thanks everyone for your positive thoughts and prayers.

.....Kelly :)

P.S. - Claremont, CA in the Los Angeles area is not the same as Clairemont which is a community in the City of San Diego. Just thought I'd clarify. :)


.....Kelly :)

Yes, both Claremont and Clairmont have had fire issues. A good friend was in Claremont all weekend helping her parents pack up their house. The fire nearly missed the house she grew up in this weekend. Most of the rest of their street burned down.

anyone else hear this?
 

I heard on the radio yesterday that Homeland Security had issued warnings because one of the al quaeda operatives who is in custody admitted to a plot to start wildfires in the west. It took me a while to find a link for it but then I found this.



What do ya'll think? They keep saying some of the fires were started by arsonists, could it be terrorists?

Dee

it is all so sad. if arson or terrorism, the punishment cannot be severe enough. my thoughts and prayers are with everyone in southern california right now. where is rain when you need it?

Re: anyone else hear this?
 

wow no offense to anyone but I had to laugh at that one. The weather has been excessively hot (100+) here and with that kind of heat and the amount of dry brush its bound to go up. Although there are suspects in this case they aren't terrorists according to news stations in California. I've been watching the news pretty regularly and there was not one mention of a suspected terrorist plot and in fact quite the contrary. Our ABC affliate station in LA said they were 2 guys who were white and in their 20s. Check it out if you like:

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/news/102...ts_sought.html

We have one alumna who lost her home and all of her belongings but fortunately she, her husband and their two children are all ok.

My grandparents (85 & 87 yo) live close to the Camp Pendleton fire and fortunately they have not had to evacuate. I kind of think they should get out of there anyway b/c the anxiety of an evacuation would be very hard on my grandpa.

The sky is disgusting by me right now. It is a light orange. Better than yesterday afternoon though. It's amazing that the smell has stopped bothering me.

I can't wait for all of this to be over.

As a total aside, the grocery and MTA strikes are totally back burner news issues now. They got one sentence on the news last night: there is nothing new to report on the two strikes. I just want to be able to shop across the street again and have cleaner air.

LD

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.