San Diego County Wild Fires

[Barbara L]

For any of our San Diego County members, I pray that your homes and families are not in danger. Stay safe, and if they say evacuate, please do it. I just read that they are evacuating over 250,000 people.

I also read that it is close to the Wild Animal Park. It is so open and grassy out there (and there are homes nearby). I hope they can keep it from affecting them.

So far it looks like my family is far enough away from them. Hopefully no new ones will start, and they will quickly contain the ones that are raging now.

Barbara

[Renee Attili]

My thoughts and good wishes go out to all that live in that area.
May the rain gods bless you soon!

[Angie]

My aunt and uncle evacuated their home yesterday. I sure hope they are OK.

[*amy*]

Originally Posted by Barbara L

For any of our San Diego County members, I pray that your homes and families are not in danger. Stay safe, and if they say evacuate, please do it. I just read that they are evacuating over 250,000 people.

I also read that it is close to the Wild Animal Park. It is so open and grassy out there (and there are homes nearby). I hope they can keep it from affecting them.

So far it looks like my family is far enough away from them. Hopefully no new ones will start, and they will quickly contain the ones that are raging now.

Barbara

Barbara, it's very bad in Los Angeles County as well - about a dozen fires from Malibu to Canyon Country, as well as Lake Arrowhead, etc. President Bush has declared California a State of emergency. During the last 48 hours there has been very high winds, & high temps. I've had my windows closed and a/c running. Hopefully the winds will die down tomorrow and everything can be contained. Stay safe.

[Callisto in NC]

It's bad in a total of 6 counties. I didn't believe the news about the winds until I talked to my SIL. She's in Orange County and she said the wind was so bad it blew my 1 year old niece on her butt. It's terrible. They can't even let the kids go out for recess right now because the ash in the air.

I hadn't heard about Bush but I knew Arnold declared the SOE on Sunday. It's really, really bad and worse than 1993 and that was terrible so I can only imagine.

[Callisto in NC]

This is the MSNBC cover story. S. California fires threaten more homes - Weather - MSNBC.com

[Barbara L]

Thanks for the update. Yeah, I didn't know yet about the other counties. Since I am originally from San Diego County I get daily news updates from there so I found out about them first.

Originally Posted by Callisto in NC

It's bad in a total of 6 counties. I didn't believe the news about the winds until I talked to my SIL. She's in Orange County and she said the wind was so bad it blew my 1 year old niece on her butt. It's terrible. They can't even let the kids go out for recess right now because the ash in the air.

I hadn't heard about Bush but I knew Arnold declared the SOE on Sunday. It's really, really bad and worse than 1993 and that was terrible so I can only imagine.

It looks like most of the schools in North San Diego County have been closed.

Santa Anas can be pretty strong. Even adults have to brace themselves against them. My mom was knocked down by Santa Ana winds once, and she was in her 30s!

To add insult to injury, as much as they need rain to help with the fires, the rain after big fires causes a lot of landslides.

I remember when (around 1970) there was a big fire in the mountains and El Cajon and other parts of East County. We were eating supper (we lived in the North Park area of San Diego at the time, quite a way from the fire) and we noticed something like pepper on our mashed potatoes. It was ashes that were being blown all that way from the fire.

Barbara

[*amy*]

Originally Posted by Callisto in NC

It's bad in a total of 6 counties. I didn't believe the news about the winds until I talked to my SIL. She's in Orange County and she said the wind was so bad it blew my 1 year old niece on her butt. It's terrible. They can't even let the kids go out for recess right now because the ash in the air.

I hadn't heard about Bush but I knew Arnold declared the SOE on Sunday. It's really, really bad and worse than 1993 and that was terrible so I can only imagine.

The wind is very high - last I heard - 60-80 mph. I could hear the wind, literally, howling. I didn't know about San Diego until I watched Nightline last night - as I recall they likened the devastation etc to Katrina. Let's hope it's contained/out soon. My heart goes out to all those that have lost lives, property etc, & are in evacuation centers - and the firefighters that have worked non stop.

[Callisto in NC]

Originally Posted by *amy*

The wind is very high - last I heard - 60-80 mph. I could hear the wind, literally, howling. I didn't know about San Diego until I watched Nightline last night - as I recall they likened the devastation etc to Katrina. Let's hope it's contained/out soon. My heart goes out to all those that have lost lives, property etc, & are in evacuation centers - and the firefighters that have worked non stop.

What I heard was they likened the evacuation numbers to the combined totals of Katrina and Rita, easy to do in the densely populated LA/SD/SB areas. The total burned area would equal the entire city of Dallas. It's crazy. They showed pictures of satelite photos where you could see the fires from space. That's just scary to me.

What part of California are you in Amy? I grew up in Orange County and used to drive I-5 to San Diego all the time. Loved it there. Don't miss it though. :)

[PytnPlace]

Keeping all those affected in my thoughts and prayers!