Live From San Diego County

[Riktor]

Well, the fires are tearing ass across San Diego County.

My wife and I have our suitcases packed and we're ready to leave at a moment's notice, but I don't think we'll have to evacuate. After all, the city's evacuation point is Qualcomm Stadium, which is a few miles to the west of my apartment.

Escondido is burning, and we're all worried about what will come of the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park.

Interstate 15 is closed between Rt. 56 and Rt. 78.

A huge swath of land, bordered on the east and west by Interstate 15 and Interstate 5, and on the north and south by Rt. 56 and Rt. 78, has been evacuated. This includes Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Sante Fe, and Fairbanks.

Del Mar is under a state of emergency.


I'd have to say, this is some fucked up shit. I drove to work this morning to find the city drenched in a haze of smoke. Ash is falling from the sky. The whole city smells like a campfire.

We are being burned at the stake, and nobody can do a damn thing about it. Our firefighters can't take to the sky due to the strong Santa Ana winds. The National Guard is nowhere to be found. The Governator tells us he's doing every thing he can, but I can't help but judge the man... he isn't here, he doesn't understand what this is like.

At any rate, I would like to start a discussion about this disaster, hopefully amongst those like myself, who are experiencing it as it happens. I'm sure there are plenty of other San Diegans and Angelinos who are enduring this insufferable bullshit. Please, share your stories.

[Hekate]

1. kick. Stay safe.

Hekate

[begin_within]

2. What's really odd is that here in Kensington, there is no wind at all.

Only a very slight breeze and the faint bitter smell of smoke. We can see the brown sky to the north and to the south, but it's a beautiful day here except for the smoke. Weird. At least the conditions at Qualcomm stadium should be approximately the same, it's only 1 mile NW of where we live.

[Riktor]

4. You must be close to me

I live on the border of El Cerrito and College Area, and there's very little wind here too, and a slight smell of smoke. I drove up to work on Mira Mesa, off the 805, and conditions were much, much worse. My eyes stung, my lungs burned, and a gray haze had descended on the city. Thankfully, my employer told me to go home and stay with my wife.

[begin_within]

9. I think it's the winds that are keeping the smoke out of central San Diego

The winds seem to be blowing strongly in the north county, from east to west, and that's blowing all the smoke to Del Mar and out to sea. If you go to this page:

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sto/cafw/satellite.php

and click on San Diego, you can see where the smoke is going. We are kind of in a "window" here in the central part of the city. If there was a fire in El Cajon or Alpine we would get a lot of the smoke here.

[YvonneCa]

5. Out east...

...of SD and Riverside counties the winds are horrendous...bad yesterday, worse last night and expected to last for another day or so.

[begin_within]

10. It's so strange how it can be so calm here. Many times my sister in Riverside has

said the winds were fierce there while it was calm here. Must be the way the mountain passes direct the winds.

[YvonneCa]

14. I moved here...

...from CV 4 years ago. There's a HUGE difference in weather patterns...wind being the biggest difference. It felt like the top of my house was coming off last night. It's a little calmer now, but I don't think it's over yet.

[Riktor]

16. I think...

... the Santa Anna Winds tear ass across the mountains, and actually travel above the lower-lying regions of San Diego. These are warm winds, which means they should stay above the cooler air sweeping in from the ocean. If that's the case, there's probably raging winds a few hundred feet above our heads. This may explain why all air travel has been grounded.

[FreeState]

28. Antique Row (North Park Canyon) here

no wind, mild smoke - clear view of the stadium. Last fires we could see trees on the other side of Mission Valley on fire... hoping it does not come this way...

[begin_within]

37. You could see trees on the north side of Mission Valley on fire? Yikes! That's close.

[FreeState]

39. 2003 yes not this time hopefully N/T

[begin_within]

41. Oh thank goodness... I thought you meant today.

[YvonneCa]

3. Murrieta here...

...stranded because the I-15 is closed. Watching LA and SD television to keep track of the many fires all around. Scary.:scared:

[Riktor]

6. It is a mess

My father flew into SD to attend his cousin's wedding in Las Vegas. He was supposed to drive there this morning, but he can't get out of the city because I-15 is closed. Even if he were able to make it out, there is no guarantee he'd be able to make it back in by Wednesday. We're all hunkered down in my apartment, hoping to weather this thing out.

[SoCalDem]

27. I'm a few miles north of you and it's wind & brown skies as far as the eys can see

Oh.. and another fire just popped up in Arrowhead...nothing BUT dried out pine trees there and rugged terrain.. Lots of water in the lake, but too dangerous to fly

Firefighters are spread so thin, than once the put one down, they have to move on, and then it pops up again after they have left ..

[chelsea0011]

7. 250,000 reported evacuated. Do they tell you where to go? I can't

imagine the roads if they need to get a couple of million people out. Is it possible that many people need to be evacuated?

[begin_within]

11. There are a lot of little evacuation centers at high schools, etc. And large animals are

supposed to be taken to the Lakeside rodeo grounds. And I'm sure they must soon be opening up the Del Mar racetrack grounds for animals to be taken too, though I haven't heard that said yet. The only really big evacuation center is Qualcomm Stadium, which is a long way to go for people in Ramona and Escondido.

[tyedyeto]

22. My son was evac'd from Ramona while visiting his g/f

They are trying to hook up with the Red Cross to volunteer at the Lakeside shelter.

We have been in that situation before (Stanislaus Complex Fire in 1987) and now he is paying the help we received forward.

[Riktor]

13. So far, it isn't too bad

The authorities have made it pretty clear who is to be evacuated, and that the ecav site is Qualcomm Stadium.

So far, the roads are fine. The city is advising employers to give employees the day off to allow for clear traveling conditions for evacuees and firefighters. The 805 and 8 seem clear enough, but I heard 5 Southbound is an unholy mess.

I can't put a figure on how many will need to be evacuated. It seems likely the fire will run out of fuel as it approaches San Diego proper. There isn't much brush to allow the fire to spread. It could take to buildings, but those should be easily extinguished without the need for helicopters and the like. We are hearing reports the winds should die down by Wednesday. Hopefully, they'll be able to get a few birds in the air by then.

[XemaSab]

21. You never know...

A firestorm can find all the fuel it wants. :(

[begin_within]

24. All that is true, but Rancho Santa Fe has huge numbers of eucalyptus trees

That whole area was planted as an enormous eucalyptus farm about 100 years ago. A subsidary of the Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad company planted millions of eucalyptus seedlings in hopes of having a source of wood for their railroad ties. The wood turned out to be unsuitable for railroad ties, so the company abandoned the expermient, but the trees remained when the land was sold. Huge numbers of the trees are still there and give the area its bucolic character - but eucaluptus leaves are highly flammable due to the volatile oils...

[madokie]

8. hang in there and do what is right for you and yours

I can identify with what you all are going through though because a couple summers ago we had grass fires that sometimes would travel up to 50 and 60 miles an hour around here so if one was coming you had very little time to do anything even to get into your car to try to run from it. many homes were lost with several causalities too if I remember correctly

[MindPilot]

12. "it may reach the coast..."

A fire dept official just said that--televised statement.

Holy shit -- this is the absolute worst I've seen in my 25+ years here

[YvonneCa]

15. Me, too...

...and I've lived in SD county since 1953.

[Riktor]

17. Well, shit...

I just moved here a few months ago. This is a hell of a way to start a new life on the West Coast!

In all fairness, I knew the risk. We live in a freakin' tinder box.

[aquart]

18. My sister has been trying to get us to move out there.

Not gonna happen.

[Riktor]

19. Seriously

This city can't afford to lose any more Democratic voters.

[Catchawave]

20. Take care, be safe Rik....and why I left SoCal in the 70's.....

Even when we weren't dodging wildfires, mudslides, earthquakes and one tsunami warning, the air always smelled funky.

[begin_within]

25. The air quality has improved dramatically since the 1970s, but all the other hazards remain

I remember the dirty air of L.A., Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego in the 1970s. San Diego was a little cleaner but still could have smoggy days. L.A. was the worst, where you could look directly at the sun without hurting your eyes - you would just see a red disk. In the 1980s the mandatory smog check program started and that, combined with the reformulation of the gasoline sold in California to be a cleaner burning formulation, has made a huge difference. Although with the dramatically increased population in the last 20 years, the smog problem has returned, but not to the same levels as in the 1970s.

[aquart]

23. kick

[mnhtnbb]

26. OMG. Just talked to my uncle in Pasadena and he said "the whole damn state is on fire"

I lived in Rancho Santa Fe from 1965-69 while in high school. I can hardly believe that Del Mar is threatened, too!

As someone who just had her house burn down at the end of August, I would seriously suggest you take advantage of the chance to pack valuables. Go through your house/apt and take pictures of everything and take the camera with you!

Good luck. Hope you stay safe.

[Riktor]

30. We're packed and ready to roll

Food, water, Social Security cards, birth certificates, credit cards, cats, clothes, first aid kits, toiletries... all in a suitcase and ready to move at a moment's notice. I'm not taking any chances.

[kineneb]

42. well, not the whole state, but definitely SoCal

up north, our fire season is over since the rains started. But we know how you feel. I live 3 blocks from the main (2-lane) highway. On the other side are houses and on the hills above them, oaks, brush and grass.

hang in there, folks.

[Initech]

29. Holy crap does this suck!

The winds are so strong that they knocked out the main power / communications lines for the whole area where I work, they were only recently restored about half an hour ago.

I need to get out of here, this blows.

[izquierdista]

31. And yet, life does go on

Tell me, is there still a 2 hour wait to cross the border at San Ysidro and Otay because ICE is checking 100% of the IDs? Even when everything is on fire, I'm sure there are some things that will always be there.

[nadinbrzezinski]

33. Otay and Tecate are closed

so no, not everything is staying the same

[maveric]

32. Godspeed my friend. I'm at work in Chula and the sky is full of smoke.

Just called my wife at out home in Ocean Beach and she cant smell the smoke as of yet.
We can down here in the South Bay though!!
If you are in the fire zone, please get out. With pets included.
My thoughts are with you.

[Riktor]

34. Thanks

I'm in central San Diego, so I'm pretty much surrounded. The fires to the north are ripping through Rancho Bernardo and Escondido (last I checked, it was 1/2 a mile away from the Wild Animal Park), while the fires to the South are approaching Chula Vista. So far, it looks like I'm in the clear. If things do get hairy, I'm packed and ready to go, and it is only a five minute drive to Qualcomm Stadium from where I live.

[KansDem]

35. I've lived in San Diego, La Mesa, and El Cajon...

I read these reports and can visualize the magnitude of this disaster.

Keep safe!

I'm suppose to visit out there next week...

[Irishonly]

36. Stay Safe

I think I heard that the state has contacted Oregon to send help. I don't know if the dope has called out what little National Guard are left in the state.

Lake Arrowhead is now burning and they don't have enough manpower.

[Ilsa]

38. 60 Minutes did a report on the fires last night. The firefighters said

they've never seen anything like the fires over the last ten years. The leader of the group said that anyone that was a global warming denier before is a believer now. They swear the GW patterns are largely, but not solely responsible for the current fire problems. Please stay safe.

[Strelnikov_]

48. Following is the quote

Pelly: You know, there are a lot of people that don't believe in climate change.

Boatner: You won't find them on the fire line in the American west. Because we've had climate change beat into us over the last ten or fifteen years. We know what we're seeing, and we're dealing with a period of climate, in terms of temperature and humidity and drought that's different than anything people have seen in our lifetimes.

From 60 minutes interview with Tom Boatner, Chief of Fire Operations, Bureau of Land Management

[NorthernSpy]

40. I hope you will all be okay...

Terrifying.


:scared:

I saw the satelite picture. It looked like there was nowhere to go but the sea.



Our thoughts are with you.

[Elspeth]

43. Does anyone know which way the winds are blowing now?

I have heard conflicting reports.

[Riktor]

47. Winds are blowing from the north-east

... which means the fires are moving in a south-westerly direction.

[Elspeth]

44. If any of your friends have evacuated-a list of homes burned

http://www.cbs8.com/

[maveric]

45. Larry Himmel is reporting live from Escondido. His house burned down!

He got his family out and went back to work near where his house used to be.
Its supposed to be in the 90's the next couple of days too. :scared:

[Elspeth]

46. Yes, this was reported earlier on another thread

Poor guy