Southern CA Fires
Hi all. This is just a quick infodump on what I know of the situation in SoCal, and because I've gotten messages about my family...
My parents evacuated to Encinitas this morning (CA time), and evacuated again this afternoon when the Witch Creek fire came across Rancho Santa Fe and into that area. They're now in Oceanside with my uncle and should be safe for now, though the Fallbrook fire has some chance of getting in there. But they are safe and in a house (as opposed to one of the evacuation centers). My brother has an apartment south of the 56, so was not evacuated and as far as I know is still there (though if he's reading this, he SHOULD HAVE GONE with our parents :P). If they evacuate Oceanside they'll likely head south to my niece's apartment. A friend's family is at the evacuation center at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. If you are in San Diego and able to, please leave me a message that you're all right -- I'm trying to get in touch with as many people I know down there as I can.
This has been pretty unreal. I did not think we'd see fires worse than '03, but at least for San Diego these seem to be considerably worse. The firefighters still aren't able to do much about them, though they're fighting isolated outbreaks and defending specific structures where possible. The closest fire to my family's house is on the other side of Black Mountain, just a few blocks away, and it is very possible that they and many others will lose their homes. The fire chief said that with the way things are going the only thing that may stop the fires is the ocean. I grew up with santa anas, but these winds are worse than any I've seen. Just keep repeating to yourself: global warming is a liberal myth.
If you or anyone you know is headed to one of the evacuation centers, bring food and water wherever possible. At least at the Fairgrounds center and at others there is no food and no water at last report. If you are nearby the evacuation centers and have supplies that you can spare, they can use non-perishable food, pet food, air mattresses, sunscreen, and bottled water.
Despite continuing to look all day I still can't find a decent map of where the fire trails are -- my suspicion is that the fires are just moving too fast. I was watching this morning as the Ramona fire swept across north county and the twenty or so miles to Black Mountain.
This map shows the various fires, but not their spreads, covered areas, or anything particularly useful:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/22/wildfire.ca/index.html?iref=mpstoryview#cnnSTCOther1
And the best local news feed that I've been listening to is here:
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/videostream/11724377/detail.html
All of San Diego county is pretty much surrounded, and at this point I don't think there is anyone who shouldn't at least be preparing to evacuate if necessary. I've never seen such fast-moving fires, and the winds aren't supposed to subside until Wednesday. Resources are coming in from San Francisco and other regions; should be there tonight, and there was some hope that the winds might die down later this afternoon and evening enough that the helicopters can get in the air. It's going to be a rough couple of days. My thoughts are with everyone and their families in the area.
Update 5:00 EST: News is advising people to keep records of any expenses they incur while being evacuated, for tax and insurance purposes, and to document any damage to their homes. If you evacuate, bring legal residence-proving documents with you -- bank statements, credit card statements -- so that if you need to get back into your neighborhood and it's blocked off, you're allowed through. Police/fire departments will frequently block off damaged areas unless you have proof of residence.
Currently I'm hearing that the fires in Rancho Bernardo are low and down for now -- could be a lull, or that section could be out (hopefully). Sounds like the winds are dying down at least a little bit for now. Good news when we can get it. Far as I know the Fallbrook fire is still moving.
However, 5N is locked shut, probably all the way from San Diego through LA (which I understand is miserable for traffic). Better to stay off the highways where possible. Gas stations are crazy as well.
Update 6:45pm EST: Craig's List forum for local San Diego where they're discussing offers of equipment, needed supplies, etc. For pets, large crates and small litterboxes needed for cats at Qualcomm, many of which were brought quickly in small carriers without boxes. They have pet food. Another thread is discussing getting a wifi connection down at Qualcomm.
http://forums.sandiego.craigslist.org/?forumID=3123
Update 7:25pm EST: SignOnSanDiego.com, the website for the main SD newspaper, temporarily started working again, and they have a better map:
http://media.signonsandiego.com/fires/
They're keeping it better up to date, but the site is going down every few minutes. I copied the map onto HomelessMoon, so at least as of now that moment on the map should be 'frozen' and preserved -- it's possible the map will even update, since it's directly from google and not being hosted by SignOn or me:
http://www.homelessmoon.com/2007fire/SanDiegoFireMap.htm
And this site is reliably staying up with evacuation info:
http://www.sdcountyemergency.com/
I also just heard on the news that they successfully kept the Witch Creek fire out of Black Mountain and are working on containing it in other areas. The winds have died down enough that the helicopters are now in the air and fighting.
My parents evacuated to Encinitas this morning (CA time), and evacuated again this afternoon when the Witch Creek fire came across Rancho Santa Fe and into that area. They're now in Oceanside with my uncle and should be safe for now, though the Fallbrook fire has some chance of getting in there. But they are safe and in a house (as opposed to one of the evacuation centers). My brother has an apartment south of the 56, so was not evacuated and as far as I know is still there (though if he's reading this, he SHOULD HAVE GONE with our parents :P). If they evacuate Oceanside they'll likely head south to my niece's apartment. A friend's family is at the evacuation center at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. If you are in San Diego and able to, please leave me a message that you're all right -- I'm trying to get in touch with as many people I know down there as I can.
This has been pretty unreal. I did not think we'd see fires worse than '03, but at least for San Diego these seem to be considerably worse. The firefighters still aren't able to do much about them, though they're fighting isolated outbreaks and defending specific structures where possible. The closest fire to my family's house is on the other side of Black Mountain, just a few blocks away, and it is very possible that they and many others will lose their homes. The fire chief said that with the way things are going the only thing that may stop the fires is the ocean. I grew up with santa anas, but these winds are worse than any I've seen. Just keep repeating to yourself: global warming is a liberal myth.
If you or anyone you know is headed to one of the evacuation centers, bring food and water wherever possible. At least at the Fairgrounds center and at others there is no food and no water at last report. If you are nearby the evacuation centers and have supplies that you can spare, they can use non-perishable food, pet food, air mattresses, sunscreen, and bottled water.
Despite continuing to look all day I still can't find a decent map of where the fire trails are -- my suspicion is that the fires are just moving too fast. I was watching this morning as the Ramona fire swept across north county and the twenty or so miles to Black Mountain.
This map shows the various fires, but not their spreads, covered areas, or anything particularly useful:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/22/wildfire.ca/index.html?iref=mpstoryview#cnnSTCOther1
And the best local news feed that I've been listening to is here:
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/videostream/11724377/detail.html
All of San Diego county is pretty much surrounded, and at this point I don't think there is anyone who shouldn't at least be preparing to evacuate if necessary. I've never seen such fast-moving fires, and the winds aren't supposed to subside until Wednesday. Resources are coming in from San Francisco and other regions; should be there tonight, and there was some hope that the winds might die down later this afternoon and evening enough that the helicopters can get in the air. It's going to be a rough couple of days. My thoughts are with everyone and their families in the area.
Update 5:00 EST: News is advising people to keep records of any expenses they incur while being evacuated, for tax and insurance purposes, and to document any damage to their homes. If you evacuate, bring legal residence-proving documents with you -- bank statements, credit card statements -- so that if you need to get back into your neighborhood and it's blocked off, you're allowed through. Police/fire departments will frequently block off damaged areas unless you have proof of residence.
Currently I'm hearing that the fires in Rancho Bernardo are low and down for now -- could be a lull, or that section could be out (hopefully). Sounds like the winds are dying down at least a little bit for now. Good news when we can get it. Far as I know the Fallbrook fire is still moving.
However, 5N is locked shut, probably all the way from San Diego through LA (which I understand is miserable for traffic). Better to stay off the highways where possible. Gas stations are crazy as well.
Update 6:45pm EST: Craig's List forum for local San Diego where they're discussing offers of equipment, needed supplies, etc. For pets, large crates and small litterboxes needed for cats at Qualcomm, many of which were brought quickly in small carriers without boxes. They have pet food. Another thread is discussing getting a wifi connection down at Qualcomm.
http://forums.sandiego.craigslist.org/?forumID=3123
Update 7:25pm EST: SignOnSanDiego.com, the website for the main SD newspaper, temporarily started working again, and they have a better map:
http://media.signonsandiego.com/fires/
They're keeping it better up to date, but the site is going down every few minutes. I copied the map onto HomelessMoon, so at least as of now that moment on the map should be 'frozen' and preserved -- it's possible the map will even update, since it's directly from google and not being hosted by SignOn or me:
http://www.homelessmoon.com/2007fire/SanDiegoFireMap.htm
And this site is reliably staying up with evacuation info:
http://www.sdcountyemergency.com/
I also just heard on the news that they successfully kept the Witch Creek fire out of Black Mountain and are working on containing it in other areas. The winds have died down enough that the helicopters are now in the air and fighting.