Southern California wildfires

Sandy McLeod · Post by **Sandy McLeod** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 5:21 pm

I am teaching a class at National University in Costa Mesa tonight. This morning I received an email stating all of the NU campuses in San Diego county (where its headquarters are) have been closed until further notice. I'm typing this in our computer lab and we are on generator power. Much of Costa Mesa west of the 405 freeway is without electricity. That includes traffic lights and businesses although although things seem pretty good on the east side of the freeway.

My wife is giving me updates from our home in Huntington Beach where the wind is still blowing like stink. We live in a man made harbor and my 32 foot trawler has been bouncing around like crazy on its docklines. We are fortunate in a sense because there is a large, open space with a naval facility next to us which tends to act as a buffer zone although it can't do anything for us if power poles and lines go down.

Sandy

Jumper · Post by **Jumper** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 5:31 pm

The chairman of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors just stated that 250,000 people are under evacuation orders, and that is expected to rise.

We're fortunate (so far, at least) in my neighborhood, as we are between the two main ash plumes, the Harris fire south of us and the Witch fire on our north. It's gotten very windy here this afternoon. The wind direction could change at any time, though, putting us right under either fire's ashfall.

Here's a link to a webcam in the east county, on top of Lyon's Mountain. The view to the south shows the Harris fire clearly, while the view to the north show the Witch fire on the horizon:

http://www.dilatush.com/LyonsPeak.jsp

And a Google map showing hte approximate burned areas, overlaying the evacuation areas:

http://media.signonsandiego.com/fires/

jkwest · Post by **jkwest** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 5:45 pm

You guys are in the thoughts and prayers from us in NorCal. We know the dangers of fires.

Good luck to all of you.

Redwolf · Post by **Redwolf** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 6:15 pm

jkwest wrote:You guys are in the thoughts and prayers from us in NorCal. We know the dangers of fires.

Good luck to all of you.

I can second this. We're watching the situation from up here and praying for you all (even if some of you are...er...(cough)... Dodgers fans.

The problem with importing water from the north, guys, is we need it too. We're dry and wildfire-prone as well, and supporting a huge agricultural industry to boot. I don't know what can be done about California's water problems (and they are severe), but taking water from one part of the state to supply another isn't the answer. I wish the state had looked into desalinazation long ago.

Redwolf

Jumper · Post by **Jumper** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 6:24 pm

Redwolf wrote:The problem with importing water from the north, guys, is we need it too

Q: How many Southern Californians does it take to make a cup of coffee?

A: Two. One to grind the beans, one to steal the water

feadogin · Post by **feadogin** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 9:07 pm

GL to all you guys in SoCal...we are wishing you all the best & hope they get these fires under control soon,

Justine, John & Eoghan

Charlene · Post by **Charlene** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 9:54 pm

Here's hoping everyone stays safe and that there's no big earthquakes to send flaming debris down on people. It's not going to be any fun later this fall when the rainy season starts, with no vegetation left to hold the soil in place.

edited because I really can spell!

fel bautista · Post by **fel bautista** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 10:12 pm

Redwolf wrote:I can second this. We're watching the situation from up here and praying for you all (even if some of you are...er...(cough)... Dodgers fans.

Wait a Minute! Aspersions cast against the Dodgers?? Almost as bad as the Kings, but that's another thread.

In all seriousness, its the folks in the rural areas that Jumper was alluding to that are at risk. I drove home from Fullerton to Diamond Bar ( 18 miles, 45 minutes-North Orange county) and the wind was howling fierce in Fullerton and a breathe in Diamond Bar. I have friends in Running Springs and Arrowhead that may loose homes. Its not a good situation. In the 2003 fire storm, my wife had a teacher friend loose her home, yet the house on either side was spared.

This was shot in 2003 from our back yard, The ridge on fire is probably 35 miles away. We were in no danger, but that's what took our friend's home

Prayers are a good thing.

Steamwalker · Post by **Steamwalker** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 11:28 pm

There are two fires that we are watching very closely, one of which is the Witch Creek fire just east of us and the Fallbrook fire just Northeast of us- neither of which are contained and are still burning. Hopefully things will be better when I wake up in the morning but the office might be closed tomorrow, who knows. With schools closed tomorrow, I imagine many of the folks with kids won't be coming into work.

Steamwalker · Post by **Steamwalker** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:57 am

I woke up this morning and my car and street were covered with ash and we are in the thick of the smoke cloud. It was hard to even see down the street. It was hard to breath even in my car on the way to work. I could smell in the smoke in my home and here at the office as well. I've seen it rain ash before because of a nearby wildfire but nothing like this. I hope everyone makes it through okay. Having to evacuate your home and all your belongings is a scary prospect.

eskin · Post by **eskin** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:57 am

MTGuru has evacuated from Scripps Ranch to a neighbor's relatives house in Serra Mesa

We're exhausted, but fine. They had a mandatory evacuation of Crest, Harbison Canyon, and West Alpine, which are the three areas east of us, and there was a lot of confusion if there was an actual fire threatening the area. Apparently it was a very cautionary evacuation, just in case either the Witch fire sent a finger south or the Harris fire came north. Neither scenario occurred overnight and all the fires are now mostly west and north/south of us. So, most likely we're OK, but staying very diligent, we've packed up the car and truck/trailer and are ready to evac with the horse/donkeys if absolutely required.

sbfluter · Post by **sbfluter** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 12:05 pm

The smell of smoke all the way up here in Santa Barbara inside my office is really bugging me. I feel for you guys down in San Diego. I hope you fair well. My boyfriend lost his house in a fire once. It's no fun. Destroyed his marriage.

rh · Post by rh » Tue Oct 23, 2007 12:06 pm

stay safe lads / ladies. we're hoping / praying for the best.

Jumper · Post by **Jumper** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 2:01 pm

We have provisionally packed to go as well, although the chances of fire reaching my house are smaller than Eskin's or MTGuru's, as we are deeper into the suburban band of communities surrounding the city of San Diego.

Over 500,000 people have now evacuated their homes.

Charlene · Post by **Charlene** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 6:04 pm

Jumper wrote:...
Here's a link to a webcam in the east county, on top of Lyon's Mountain. The view to the south shows the Harris fire clearly, while the view to the north show the Witch fire on the horizon:

http://www.dilatush.com/LyonsPeak.jsp

I've been looking at this off and on, and it looks like they are going to lose the building and tower off to the west. Everytime I check the smoke is closer.

Hope the Santa Ana stops soon.