hope everyone's ok
Pomerado Hospital being evacuated; I-15 open in both directions
9:16 a.m.
Interstate 15:
Interstate 15 has been reopened by the California Highway Patrol in both directions. The exception is to the offramps between Lake Hodges and Mercy Road. The offramps only will remain closed.
Pomerado Hospital
Pomerado Hospital is being evacuated, along with nursing homes on Monte Vista Road. Ambulances and school buses are being used for the evacuations.
Call to all SDPD officers to return to duty
9:10 a.m.
All SDPD on and off duty detectives (investigators) will be working in uniform today until further notice. They are to report to the headquarters building.
All SDPD scheduled graveyard shift officers need to report to their commands at 6 p.m. tonight.
Three firefighters in critical condition at UCSD
8:54 a.m.
The UC San Diego Medical Center Regional Burn Center began receiving burn patients from the Harris Fire at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 21.
At this time, UCSD has 13 patients hospitalized at UCSD Medical Center-Hillcrest with burns and inhalation damage, including four firefighters injured in the Portrero fire.
UCSD Thornton Hospital is canceling elective admissions in order to maintain bed capacity in anticipation of community needs. Other services are being evaluated as the situation continues to develop.
Conditions of the patients currently hospitalized at UCSD Medical Center-Hillcrest are:
3 Firefighters are in Critical Condition
1 Firefighter is in Fair Condition
4 Civilians in Critical Condition
4 Civilians in Fair Condition
1 Civilian in Good Condition
Injuries are: Critical:
60% burn injuries
29% burn injuries
28% burn injuries
12% burn injuries
8% burn injuries w/inhalation damage
5% burn injuries w/inhalation damage
5% burn injuries w/inhalation damage
Fair: 17% burn injuries
9% burn injuries
10% burn injuries
6% burn injuries
5% burn w/inhalation damage
Good: 4% burn injuries
No court services today
8:45 a.m.
Because of the magnitude of the fire, the court has cancelled any limited service. All courts are closed today - Monday.
All employees, jurors and those called to jury services are NOT to report to the courthouse.
Latest evacuation notices
8:32 a.m.
Here are the latest evacuation notices. Over 30,000 Reverse 911 calls have gone out.
Coronado Hills Fire (in San Marcos): Notifications made to 1,000 residents in the communities of Coronado Hills and Discovery Hills in San Marcos and to Attebury Rd. and Deadwood Rd. They were evacuated to Escondido High School.
Mission (Fallbrook) Fire: Notifications made to Rainbow Area residents (I-15 on west, Rainbow Valley on the north, Pala Temecula on the East and Pala Rd. on the south) instructing residents to evacuate to the west.
Witch Fire: Evactuation notices have gone out to Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve; Del Dios; Lake Hodges; in Poway at Espola Rd., Old Coach Rd., Heritage Rd. and Stage Coach Rd. Reverse 911 notification has been made for Poway in the area bordered by Pomerado on the west, Twin Peaks on the south and Espola on the north and east. Poway has established an evacuation center at Poway Civic Center.
Harris Fire: Notifications have been made to residents of Mother Grundy Truck Trail and Deer Horn Valley. They were evacuated to Steele Canyon High School. Future evacuatees will be directed to Santana High School in Santee. Mandatory evacuation in progress for Coyote Holler. They were evacuated East to Campo. Mandatory evactuation notices sent for areas north of Lake Wohlford.
Residents should call 2-1-1 for all non-emergency calls related to this fire. Due to large call volume, residents are also urged to find fire information online at www.211SanDiego.org Residents may also call the City of San Diego Community Access Phone at 619-570-1070 for additional fire information.
New advisory evacuations in Poway area
8:19 a.m.
Advisory evacuations have been ordered for Poway in the area bordered by Pomerado Rd. on the west, Espola Rd., on the north and east, and Twin Peaks on the south.
Evacuation points have been established at San Marcos High School at 1615 W. San Marcos Blvd. and Poway Civic Center at 13325 Civic Center Drive. San Marcos Mission Hills High School is full. Poway High School is closed to evacuees.
The San Marcos Office of the Treasurer Tax Collector and Assessor Recorder is closed today.
Additional School Closures:
California College is closed for today.
Residents should call 2-1-1 for all non-emergency calls related to this fire. Due to large call volume, residents are also urged to find fire information online at www.211SanDiego.org Residents may also call the City of San Diego Community Access Phone at 619-570-1070 for additional fire information.
Six Escondido houses burn
7:35 a.m.
Six houses in southern Escondido have been lost to the Witch Creek Fire and two others have been damaged. Homes continue to be at risk in that area, Escondido fire officials say.
Avoid non-essential travel, officials urge
7:31 a.m.
Emergency officials are urging people to avoid using major highways within the county today. The roadways need to remain clear for evacuations.
Officials also ask that people keep their cell phone use to a minimum to keep lines open for emergency officials to communicate.
County spokeswoman Lesley Kirk says if you do not need to be on the road then please do not drive. She also advises people to check with their employers before they go to work today to make sure they still need to come in.
Fire total: 18,000 acres burning
7:25 a.m.
The San Diego County Office of Emergency Services reports there are some 18,000 acres of San Diego County burning right now. That includes the areas burning in the city of San Diego, officials said.
The fires are zero percent contained.
San Diego Superior Court closed
7:20 a.m.
Superior Court is closed. All court employees are advised not to report to work today.
Boundaries on western mandatory evacuation area
7:09 a.m.
According to San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders: Everyone north of state Route 56, south of Del Dios Highway, west of Interstate 15 and east of Interstate 5 should evacuate. Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley is opening as an evacuation center.
American Red Cross shelter locations
7:02 a.m.
Escondido High School, 1535 North Broadway
Santana High School, 9915 Magnolia Avenue, Santee
Mira Mesa High School, 10510 Reagan Road (off Mira Mesa Boulevard).
Steele Canyon High School, 12440 Campo Road, Spring Valley
Campo Community Center, 976 Sheridan Road, Campo
Poway High School shelter is CLOSED.
23,000 without power
6:55 a.m.
Power outages totaling more than 23,000 customers have occurred throughout communities in North and East County.
Affected areas include Fallbrook, Escondido, San Marcos, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Penasquitos, Julian, Ramona, Santa Ysabel, Rainbow, Poway, Encinitas, Cardiff By the Sea, Olivenhain, Del Mar, Valley Center, Jamul, Dulzera, Potrero and Alpine, according to SDG&E.
For a map of outages and expected restoration times on the SDG&E Web site, go to http://outages.sdge.com/
publicOutageWeb/servlet/OutageMap.
San Diego police officers ordered on duty
6:50 a.m.
All scheduled graveyard San Diego police officers have been ordered to report to their commands at 6 p.m. Monday. All on-duty and off-duty investigators are ordered to report to Room 213 at headquarters - in uniform, with vests.
Limited court services available Monday
6:47 a.m.
The courts will be open for a limited time Monday morning for those who have business at the court such as filing paperwork. There will be no cases heard, officials said. All court employees are expected to report to work.
Huge swath of evacuations west to I-5
6:24 a.m.
Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for a huge swath totaling 100 square miles and ranging from Interstate 5 on the west across Interstate 15 to the east, and north from state Route 56 to Lake Hodges, said San Diego fire department spokesman Maurice Luque.
Flames penetrated Rancho Bernardo from the northeast beginning around 3:30 a.m., and have jumped Interstate 15 at Carmel Valley Road, Luque said.
An undetermined number of homes are burning and there are reports of people trapped in their homes and cars, Luque said.
The flames are threatening to burn into Rancho Santa Fe, Luque said.
Residents can seek shelter at any of the designated high schools or Qualcomm Stadium, Luque said.
A force of 240 firefighters with 60 engines are trying to stop the blaze from advancing farther through the area. Ambulances are in the area to help the elderly and ill who cannot evacuate themselves, he said.
Two firefighters hurt; homes lost; Witch Fire now 10,000 acres
6:13 a.m.
One volunteer firefighter from the Inter Mountain Fire District and a firefighter with the Julian Fire Department were hurt and taken to hospitals.
Both are considered to be in good condition. Fire officials are trying to determine how they got hurt.
Homes have been lost in Escondido in the Sierra Linda and Sonata areas. The number of structures lost is not known at this time.
Firefighters estimate the Witch Fire has spread to 10,000 acres.
Fire burning in Rainbow
6:02 a.m.
A fire is burning in Rainbow, Sheriff's Department officials say.
Residents in the 1500 block of Rainbow Heights Drive and and Rainbow Crest Road are being asked to evacuate, said Sheriff's Lt. Mike McClain. Reverse 911 calls are being made to the area.
The fire was first reported at 4:15 a.m. and started out small but spread rapidly, McClain said.
Interstate 15 closed
5:59 a.m.
Interstate 15 is closed in both directions from state Route 78 to Ted Williams Parkway/state Route 56, the California Highway Patrol says.
Del Dios evacuation
5:45 a.m.
Mandatory evacuations have been called for in the Del Dios area, the San Diego Sheriff's Department reports.
Rancho Santa Fe, 4S Ranch evacuations
5:41 a.m.
Rancho Santa Fe and northern 4S Ranch areas have been issued mandatory evacuations.
There are reports of injuries related to the Witch Fire but information on those hurt was not immediately available.
Fire officials are urging residents to evacuate immediately if authorities say it's time to leave.
Guejito Fire, Witch Creek Fire merge
5:25 a.m.
The previous Guejito Fire, near the Wild Animal Park, is now considered part of the Witch Creek Fire, and multiple emergency agencies have created a unified command.
Escondido Fire Chief Vic Reed says it is critical that everyone in the Via Loma Vista area evacuate.
"Absolutely, positively, pay attention to the evacuation orders," Reed said.
i'm reposting some info i found helpful in the comments area of signonsandiego regarding the fires:
211 website : (lots of info summarized in text here)
http://informsandiego.org/WebInform/ResourceDatabase/SearchEngine/Focus/FocusTopicResults.asp?FocusTopicID=6
there is some info about animal evacuations here for people with larger animals or people needing shelter.
Live police/fire scanners : http://www.scansandiego.net/cgi-bin/index.pl
sign on san diego fireblog (updated every 5-15 minutes)
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/fireblog/
KOGO (radio updates) stream :
http://www.kogo.com/pages/streaming.html
this post has some helpful evacuation info for people evacuating the highway 78 fire
http://www.techlifeweb.com/2007/10/21/san-diego-wildfire-update/
http://www.sdcountyemergency.com/
Air Quality: this number has an up-to-date recording: 858-586-2800 or log onto www.sdapcd.org/air/forecasts/otoday.html
Volunteers to call Volunteer San Diego - (800) 865-8683 Toll-Free
County Animal Services 24 hour- (619) 236-2341
does anyone have more info about the fire at the wild animal park?!