SD Firestorm 2007 - 24th October, Part 1
Other SD Firestorm 2007 updates
Updates are in reverse chronological order.
Late afternoon and evening posts will be in a 24th October - Part 2 post.
2:55p: Two Escondido neighborhoods were reopened: Sonata and Sierra Linda. However, residents will not be permitted to reenter heavily damaged or destroyed homes.
20 homes have been destroyed on South Grade Rd on Palomar Mountain.
At around 2:00p, SD County Emergency posted their latest map. Seems to be loading okay for now.
1:53p: UT fireblog just posted about PQ reopening. They posted all the boundaries and filled in the one I was missing, so again, the area reopened is: north of the 56, west of the 15, east of Rancho Santa Fe Farms, south of Rancho Bernardo Rd.
1:34p: Donations are not being accepted at Qualcomm at this time, they have sufficient supplies for now.
1:23p: Haven't seen any confirmation of this yet, but the CBS8 broadcast announced that Rancho Peñasquitos residents who live in the following area can return to their homes: north of the 56, west of the 15, east of Rancho Santa Fe Farms. I missed what the northern boundary was, though... did anyone catch it?
12:49p: Harris Fire is burning around Barrett Lake.
Two fires reported in Northern Mexico. 60 homes have been destroyed.
The Wild Animal Park has lost two animals, a clapper rail and a kiang. The other 3500 or so animals weathered the firestorm well.
News slowing down a bit again... it's not just me getting extra sleep (although that's happening too). Will post more news as I see/hear it.
11:10a: Per the UT fireblog, the Witch and Poomacha fires have officially combined, forming a 200,000-acre blaze. Hot spots are heading east towards Julian, north to Palomar Mountain and northeast into the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Morrow Hills of Oceanside is now under voluntary evacuation per KPBS.
Evacuated Escondido residents can call 760-839-6262, to see if they're allowed to return home.
10:53a: 5N is open again, though the rest areas are closed.
10:29a: Almost all of Poway has been reopened. The exceptions are High Valley Rd and Crocker Rd.
Harris Fire is flaring up in Dulzura, Deerhorn Valley, Lyons Valley, and Lawson Valley.
10:21a: Residents of northeast Rancho Bernardo may return home. The specific area is south of Paseo del Verano N, west of the city of Poway, north of Espola Rd, and east of Pomerado Rd.
9:54a: Per CBS8 broadcast, the Harris Fire is up to 75,000 acres.
9:52a: Harris fire is threatening structures along Highway 94 from Jamul to the east and Jamacha to the west.
Witch Fire continues to move east, threatening Julian and Pine Hills.
9:50a: Lyons Peak was burned by the Harris Fire; the fire jumped perimeter control lines in the area.
9:40a: Witch Fire now 10% containment. UT fireblog now says that it hasn't officially converged with the Poomacha Fire but has the potential to do so.
Rice Fire up to 15% containment.
Fires have cost over $1.4 billion to fight so far. Specifics: Harris Fire at $2.5 million, Witch Fire at $2.3 billion, Rice Fire at $585,000, Poomacha Fire at $350,000.
No homes lost at Rancho Jamul Estate yet, but fire crews are standing by.
Strong winds near Rincon right now.
9:35a: Escondido, Poway, and Rancho Bernardo are all being evaluated right now, to see if their evacuation orders should be lifted.
9:28a: Harris fire up to 73,000 acres.
9:12a: KPBS's Twitter just said that the Witch and Poomacha fires haven't officialy converged. The UT fire blog says otherwise, as does the SD County Emergency map. Conflicting information isn't too surprising here, given the scope of the fires and the difficulty of mapping actual boundaries. But even if they haven't merged yet, they're still in danger of doing so, since they're so close to each other.
Rancho Santa Fe is NOT open yet despite any rumors to the contrary.
8:55a: Fires threatening the Rancho Jamul Estates.
8:46a: Up to 6 fire-related deaths. One is directly fire related, two occurred during evacuation activities, three occurred after the individuals were evacuated. More details on the San Diego County Emergency site.
8:00a: News within the past hour:
Witch Fire at 194,420 acres, 1% containment.
Harris Fire at 72,000 acres, 10% containment. 2,000 homes and 500 commercial properties destroyed.
Rice Fire at 7,500+ acres, 10% containment.
Poomacha Fire at 20,000 acres, 0% containment. 2,000 homes threatened. This fire is moving toward Palomar Mountain on the north, Cleveland National Forest on the east.
Horno Fire at 6,000 acres, 10% containment.
Combined, the fires have destroyed at least 956 homes, 100 businesses, 50 outbuildings, 2 other commercial properties. Esimated losses are over $1 billion in destroyed homes alone.
A Martin Mars waterbomber is expected to arrive this afternoon. In a single drop, the Canada-based plane can drop enough water to drench three acres.
The Otay Mesa voluntary evacuation was lifted as of 7:00a.
Del Mar Heights and Carmel Valley can be repopulated in the following areas: south of city limits, west of Rancho Santa Fe Farms, east of the 5, north of the 56.
The 5 South was reopened 20 or so minutes ago. 5 North is still closed.
More power lines are down in north county, please continue to conserve energy.
7:40a: Morning all. Overnight developments:
Mandatory evacuations: Bonsall, San Luis Rey Heights and Winterwarm on the north side of Highway 76; De Luz (which is north of Camp Pendleton); Birch Hill (by Palomar Mountain); Valley Center, three miles east of Lake Wohlford Rd.
Since 1:00a, the 5 has been closed between the 76 and Cristianitos Rd. This is due to the fire at Camp Pendleton.
Apparently the Horno Fire at Camp Pendleton has burned 6000 acres so far.
The Witch fire and Poomacha fire merged early this morning.
SD County Emergency posted a new map at 5:40 this morning. SignOnSanDiego is mirroring the map through lamphost.net. The mirror seems to work pretty well so far, so I probably won't screencap future maps.
Updates are in reverse chronological order.
Late afternoon and evening posts will be in a 24th October - Part 2 post.
2:55p: Two Escondido neighborhoods were reopened: Sonata and Sierra Linda. However, residents will not be permitted to reenter heavily damaged or destroyed homes.
20 homes have been destroyed on South Grade Rd on Palomar Mountain.
At around 2:00p, SD County Emergency posted their latest map. Seems to be loading okay for now.
1:53p: UT fireblog just posted about PQ reopening. They posted all the boundaries and filled in the one I was missing, so again, the area reopened is: north of the 56, west of the 15, east of Rancho Santa Fe Farms, south of Rancho Bernardo Rd.
1:34p: Donations are not being accepted at Qualcomm at this time, they have sufficient supplies for now.
1:23p: Haven't seen any confirmation of this yet, but the CBS8 broadcast announced that Rancho Peñasquitos residents who live in the following area can return to their homes: north of the 56, west of the 15, east of Rancho Santa Fe Farms. I missed what the northern boundary was, though... did anyone catch it?
12:49p: Harris Fire is burning around Barrett Lake.
Two fires reported in Northern Mexico. 60 homes have been destroyed.
The Wild Animal Park has lost two animals, a clapper rail and a kiang. The other 3500 or so animals weathered the firestorm well.
News slowing down a bit again... it's not just me getting extra sleep (although that's happening too). Will post more news as I see/hear it.
11:10a: Per the UT fireblog, the Witch and Poomacha fires have officially combined, forming a 200,000-acre blaze. Hot spots are heading east towards Julian, north to Palomar Mountain and northeast into the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Morrow Hills of Oceanside is now under voluntary evacuation per KPBS.
Evacuated Escondido residents can call 760-839-6262, to see if they're allowed to return home.
10:53a: 5N is open again, though the rest areas are closed.
10:29a: Almost all of Poway has been reopened. The exceptions are High Valley Rd and Crocker Rd.
Harris Fire is flaring up in Dulzura, Deerhorn Valley, Lyons Valley, and Lawson Valley.
10:21a: Residents of northeast Rancho Bernardo may return home. The specific area is south of Paseo del Verano N, west of the city of Poway, north of Espola Rd, and east of Pomerado Rd.
9:54a: Per CBS8 broadcast, the Harris Fire is up to 75,000 acres.
9:52a: Harris fire is threatening structures along Highway 94 from Jamul to the east and Jamacha to the west.
Witch Fire continues to move east, threatening Julian and Pine Hills.
9:50a: Lyons Peak was burned by the Harris Fire; the fire jumped perimeter control lines in the area.
9:40a: Witch Fire now 10% containment. UT fireblog now says that it hasn't officially converged with the Poomacha Fire but has the potential to do so.
Rice Fire up to 15% containment.
Fires have cost over $1.4 billion to fight so far. Specifics: Harris Fire at $2.5 million, Witch Fire at $2.3 billion, Rice Fire at $585,000, Poomacha Fire at $350,000.
No homes lost at Rancho Jamul Estate yet, but fire crews are standing by.
Strong winds near Rincon right now.
9:35a: Escondido, Poway, and Rancho Bernardo are all being evaluated right now, to see if their evacuation orders should be lifted.
9:28a: Harris fire up to 73,000 acres.
9:12a: KPBS's Twitter just said that the Witch and Poomacha fires haven't officialy converged. The UT fire blog says otherwise, as does the SD County Emergency map. Conflicting information isn't too surprising here, given the scope of the fires and the difficulty of mapping actual boundaries. But even if they haven't merged yet, they're still in danger of doing so, since they're so close to each other.
Rancho Santa Fe is NOT open yet despite any rumors to the contrary.
8:55a: Fires threatening the Rancho Jamul Estates.
8:46a: Up to 6 fire-related deaths. One is directly fire related, two occurred during evacuation activities, three occurred after the individuals were evacuated. More details on the San Diego County Emergency site.
8:00a: News within the past hour:
Witch Fire at 194,420 acres, 1% containment.
Harris Fire at 72,000 acres, 10% containment. 2,000 homes and 500 commercial properties destroyed.
Rice Fire at 7,500+ acres, 10% containment.
Poomacha Fire at 20,000 acres, 0% containment. 2,000 homes threatened. This fire is moving toward Palomar Mountain on the north, Cleveland National Forest on the east.
Horno Fire at 6,000 acres, 10% containment.
Combined, the fires have destroyed at least 956 homes, 100 businesses, 50 outbuildings, 2 other commercial properties. Esimated losses are over $1 billion in destroyed homes alone.
A Martin Mars waterbomber is expected to arrive this afternoon. In a single drop, the Canada-based plane can drop enough water to drench three acres.
The Otay Mesa voluntary evacuation was lifted as of 7:00a.
Del Mar Heights and Carmel Valley can be repopulated in the following areas: south of city limits, west of Rancho Santa Fe Farms, east of the 5, north of the 56.
The 5 South was reopened 20 or so minutes ago. 5 North is still closed.
More power lines are down in north county, please continue to conserve energy.
7:40a: Morning all. Overnight developments:
Mandatory evacuations: Bonsall, San Luis Rey Heights and Winterwarm on the north side of Highway 76; De Luz (which is north of Camp Pendleton); Birch Hill (by Palomar Mountain); Valley Center, three miles east of Lake Wohlford Rd.
Since 1:00a, the 5 has been closed between the 76 and Cristianitos Rd. This is due to the fire at Camp Pendleton.
Apparently the Horno Fire at Camp Pendleton has burned 6000 acres so far.
The Witch fire and Poomacha fire merged early this morning.
SD County Emergency posted a new map at 5:40 this morning. SignOnSanDiego is mirroring the map through lamphost.net. The mirror seems to work pretty well so far, so I probably won't screencap future maps.