still here
Just thought that everyone would like to know that I am still alive and kicking in San Diego. I'm thinking about leaving for a while this weekend (school canceled until Monday at the earliest), and I will post updates here if I get a chance. Let me tell you kids, this fire is bad news. Some indicators of the bad news-ness:
1. If you are getting your fire engines from Tijuana, it's a good sign about international cooperation, but a bad sign about how on fire your county is. Tijuana sent us at least four engines today.
2. When radio stations go dark, it's a sign of the apocalypse. KPBS, our local NPR affiliate went dead this morning about about 5:30 am, after their transmission tower was damaged by the fire. They are now broadcasting online (yesterday this was down because of server overload), and on FM94.9, a local rock station (though this station is not broadcasting the KPBS feed commercial free). I didn't wake up as planned this morning because my wake up radio was dead air.
3. The fact that I didn't wake up was just fine, since there was no where to go. UCSD has canceled classed until Monday at the earliest, largely because of air quality concerns and because a lot of faculty and staff has been a bit busy evacuating their homes, but also just to keep people from trying to get there using resources such as roads.
4. This map gives a pretty decent overview of what's going on in the county. Click on the yellow push pin to get a legend. The red means fire. Notice that there is a lot of that red stuff.
5. The San Diego County emergency website says that the Harris fire (SE San Diego County--bottom right corner of the map) is 10% contained (more than the Witch fire in the middle of the map which is closer to more people and more destruction of people's houses) and they say it will be a week before it is fully contained. Who knows about the Witch fire. Maybe I will get more than a week off of school over the air quality?
6. 300,000 people have been evacuated. Really, that is a large fraction of the county population. I saw professors at my office today toting pillows because they had been ordered to evacuate the night before.
In alternate, good news:
1. People are being generally amazing. There has been a whole lot of people who have done a whole lot of good things to make it so that people can have a place to sleep, even if it is in Qualcom Stadium. Everything from bringing food and clothing to evacuation sites to medical personnel just turning up where they are evacuating people from nursing homes and the like.
2. 94.9, which is a commercial rock station, has turned over its airwaves to KPBS, in the interest of the greater good. I am listening to it as we speak.
3. Even Tijuana sent us engines.
4. It turns out I have very nice neighbors. I have been talking to them a little bit more in the last 48 hours.
5. People are even joining forces to pray. Seriously, one of the announcements on KPBS was "if you want to get together to pray show up here."
6. The coverage that KPBS is providing over 94.9. KPBS is taking calls to match needs with givers, and to get news from people around the county.
1. If you are getting your fire engines from Tijuana, it's a good sign about international cooperation, but a bad sign about how on fire your county is. Tijuana sent us at least four engines today.
2. When radio stations go dark, it's a sign of the apocalypse. KPBS, our local NPR affiliate went dead this morning about about 5:30 am, after their transmission tower was damaged by the fire. They are now broadcasting online (yesterday this was down because of server overload), and on FM94.9, a local rock station (though this station is not broadcasting the KPBS feed commercial free). I didn't wake up as planned this morning because my wake up radio was dead air.
3. The fact that I didn't wake up was just fine, since there was no where to go. UCSD has canceled classed until Monday at the earliest, largely because of air quality concerns and because a lot of faculty and staff has been a bit busy evacuating their homes, but also just to keep people from trying to get there using resources such as roads.
4. This map gives a pretty decent overview of what's going on in the county. Click on the yellow push pin to get a legend. The red means fire. Notice that there is a lot of that red stuff.
5. The San Diego County emergency website says that the Harris fire (SE San Diego County--bottom right corner of the map) is 10% contained (more than the Witch fire in the middle of the map which is closer to more people and more destruction of people's houses) and they say it will be a week before it is fully contained. Who knows about the Witch fire. Maybe I will get more than a week off of school over the air quality?
6. 300,000 people have been evacuated. Really, that is a large fraction of the county population. I saw professors at my office today toting pillows because they had been ordered to evacuate the night before.
In alternate, good news:
1. People are being generally amazing. There has been a whole lot of people who have done a whole lot of good things to make it so that people can have a place to sleep, even if it is in Qualcom Stadium. Everything from bringing food and clothing to evacuation sites to medical personnel just turning up where they are evacuating people from nursing homes and the like.
2. 94.9, which is a commercial rock station, has turned over its airwaves to KPBS, in the interest of the greater good. I am listening to it as we speak.
3. Even Tijuana sent us engines.
4. It turns out I have very nice neighbors. I have been talking to them a little bit more in the last 48 hours.
5. People are even joining forces to pray. Seriously, one of the announcements on KPBS was "if you want to get together to pray show up here."
6. The coverage that KPBS is providing over 94.9. KPBS is taking calls to match needs with givers, and to get news from people around the county.