26 replies to this topic

[Divegirl412]

San Diego Fires

Please pray for all the folks who have lost their homes, been injured, and even lost their lives (one dead, several missing) in the San Diego fires that started this weekend. At least 8 different fires down here in San Diego (with more up in Orange Co and LA Co.... of course the Malibu fire which is mostly burning brush gets most of the national attention). This is even worse than the fires 4 years ago during the same week. This happens during the Santa Ana windstorms. Several homes are burning, including several neighborhoods in Rancho Bernardo which is the suburb that I live in. Also several areas of San Diego County (including within the city) have been evacuated. Threatening the San Diego Zoo wild animal park which would be an incredible loss. How do you emergently evacuate wild birds, elephants, lions and tigers. Many endangered species there too that have been bred and nurtured at the park. The firefighters can't get control because the winds are too strong (up to 57mph) and the viz too poor to risk flying, so no aerial fire fighting support.

I live just north of the Rt 56 and just East of the I-15, so am on the outer boundary of the largest area being evacuated (involving more than 250,000 people so far). I went in to work with my car packed with my stuff, figuring that there would be a lot of patients (air is very poor quality.. smoke and ashes everywhere). And I did not want to be stuck at the clinic with nothing, in case the evacuation order was expanded to include my neighborhood. But the clinic (in Rancho Bernardo) was closed. So now I am at home, watching sadly as my beautiful city is devastated. Incredibly sad. One newscaster called in to the station in tears, describing watching his house burn live. Really brings home the anguish and devastation. When I left my house today, it was with the knowledge that I could lose it AND all my memories etc. But knowing it can happen is so different from actually having it happen.

Praying and hoping these winds abate so the fire does not burn its way through to the coast!!

Rosa

[ScubaDawg]

Rosa, good to hear you are alright so far, was thinking of you this morning after seeing the evacuation of Rancho Bernardo and watching so many homes lost to that fire alone. This is a bad time for Southern Calif in general with fires breaking out all over, the latest in Lake Arrowhead and Devore. Many sections of freeways are closed, lots of smoke, huge dust storms and incredibly strong wind gusts make driving a challenge......At least one hospital and a nursing home were also evacuated.....Evacuating the Wild Animal Park will be the ultimate challenge! I know we have lots of San Diego and Southern California members, so lets hope and pray all is well for all of them... CNN seems to have the best coverage for the San Diego fires..............Karen

[cmt489]

My thoughts go out to you and your neighbours Rosa. Here in BC we definitely know how devistating these fires can be after a good portion of the City of Kelowna burned up a few summers ago. Please be sure to keep yourself safe.

[pir8]

Keep yourself safe Rosa. You can always replace most material things but we cannot replace you!!!

[DiverBabs]

Lots of prayers coming your way.... please be safe Rosa and keep us posted.

[Divegirl412]

Thanks Michelle and Karen. I was up most of the night keeping track of the news, so I just fell asleep on the couch (during Gov Arnold's news conference no less LOL). Just woke up to hear one of the newscasters saying that "...Scripps ranch, grab your belongings and get out right now". Guess that means they are being mandatory evac'd too. Have to check the website.. no wait ....confirmed by the mayor live right now. So that is just south of me, and it is actually the neighborhood that was wiped out 4 years ago. So now my immediate north and south neighbours are being ordered out. We are still holding tight. We think we will probably be OK, but...it is at the whim of the winds.

Karen, I still hope we can get together this weekend. I will certainly need a drink by then!!

[Divegirl412]

Thanks a lot, guys.

[mantarraya]

Good luck, girl. We are all pulling for you and everyone else (human and non-human) in the lovely city of San Diego.

I know that terrible feeling of leaving one's home, thinking it won't be there when one returns (I live on Galveston Island, in TX, and felt that way when it looked like Rita was aiming straight at us). Fire is so capricious, however, and it is so disturbing that the fire cycle out west has gotten so far out of whack with too much brush on the ground, and that brush dryer than normal from drought. Throw in the Santa Ana winds and it is a real disaster brewing. The Forest Service was one of my primary clients for years, and I got to witness a lot of this first-hand when I lived in AZ and CO. Be safe!!!!

Edited by mantarraya, 22 October 2007 - 03:41 PM.

[WreckWench]

Please pray for our members (Rosa and others) in California who are impacted by the horrible fires steadily burning in that State. We have members in the area so they need our prayers and support right now.

[scubagoddess]

My prayers are with all of the SD members in that area and everyone else as well. I hope the winds die down so the fires can be contained.

[finGrabber]

I'm praying for everyone in California who may be impacted!

[ScubaDrew]

Fire sux, we had our own version here in the Spring. Here's to you all not being affected more than I was.

[1Scubadiver]

My prayers are with you and everyone out there. Stay safe, Be well & get out when they tell you!
Hope to meet you someday.

Barb R. aka 1scubadiver

[drbill]

Rosa,

Hope your home is still OK. I left Catalina to visit a former dive buddy and her family in Thousand Oaks before they move to Oregon. Smoke was bad enough here they tried to drive north to Santa Barbara so the kids could play on a beach with fresh air, but the smoke was even worse up there.

Have heard from several of my dive friends in the San Diego area that have had homes threatened, or have evacuated. The San Diego area just sounds terrible. Our thoughts are with you.

[Divegirl412]

San Diego Fires Update

Sorry for the silence. It has been a long day.

I am glad to say that things are looking a bit better. Cautiously optimistic now, because the winds have died down, and the fires are being more manageable.. especially now that the air tankers and firefighting helicopters are kicking in and helping the ground crews. But it is actually more dangerous now for our heroes, the fire fighters. Instead of dealing with winds and fire heading in just one direction, now the winds and therefore the flames are more unpredictable and changeable, and that is when the firefighters can get caught in a firestorm. I pray they remain safe. It was terrible when we lost one in the fires 4 years ago. They risk so much to keep us safe... including the idiots who don't evacuate even when their neighborhoods are on fire!!!

At this time, the count is over 300 homes burnt in Rancho Bernardo alone, north of me. At least 50 in Poway, (East of me). And several more in other parts south and west, and then further east in Ramona and Julian where the biggest fire started!! Probably over a thousand homes destroyed and counting. And over 346,000 people evacuated due to the fires!!! And still more burning. Different areas still being evacuated. How do we recover from that???? This has been simply incredibly devastating, check out any of the maps online to see the extent. 5 more deaths possibly related to evacuation... although that is a stretch.. 2 or 3 of them were patients over 90 years old who died of "natural causes" after being evacuated. So not directly due to the fire???? But I know the death toll will mount as the clean up begins.

For some strange reason, even though my neighborhood was surrounded by fire the entire time, we were not evacuated. I think they forgot about us LOL!!! Nobody called us or verbally listed us as being under evac orders. Yet the evac maps they displayed included us in the evacuated zone. Go figure. Anyway, I really wanted to stay home until I definitely had to leave. And our neighborhood luckily is not on any hills or abutting any canyons, so less risky. So...the neighbors all watched out for each other, and we kept an eye on the news too. I spent a fitful night sleeping and waking up every one-two hours to check the news updates. The Poway fire behind me was really exploding last night. Every night I have the car backed in, facing the garage door, loaded up, ready to go. A ladder is near the garage door in case power goes out, so I can still get out by disengaging the door. No time for little me to be jumping up and down in an emergency trying to get out. Flashlights everywhere, since several power lines are down, and transformers exploding. Several people have lost power. Black ash everywhere. Such fun!!! but still more fortunate than many others!! Thank God, my neighborhood stayed safe last night. Maybe I will unpack the car tomorrow evening.

Went to work at the hospital today. Slow, but a few patients showed up. Incredible eye and throat and sinus pain from the air, even inside the hospital with the AC running, air scrubbers AND doors shut! . I suspect some chemicals must have burned somewhere in the county!! I don't remember feeling this way 4 years ago!!! Hopefully I will get a full nights' sleep tonight.. the first since saturday!!!

Amazing that this could happen again in 4 years and be even worse!! Hopefully we will learn further from this and recover fully.

BTW, I have got to say, I do have my priorities in order. You'd be proud of me, Kamala!!! The first morning when I packed in a rush, I only threw my fins in the car, along with the valuables, clothing, important papers and computers. Why my fins? I had a heck of a time finding spring straps to fit my tiny feet . But when I left this morning, it was also with my BC, reg and dive computers. So even with the fires, I am still thinking ahead to my next dive!!!

Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts!!

Rosa

Edited by Divegirl412, 23 October 2007 - 11:03 PM.