Deja vu all over again: Southern California is on fire.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

The bad news: Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties are on fire.

The good news: Mel Gibson lives in Malibu.

In all seriousness, 2003’s fires (which also began on a weekend in October) were a horrifying experience for everyone in San Diego county. This morning, hearing about what was then just a Malibu fire drove home the striking contrast between “some other place is burning” and “this place is burning”. I remember my dad waking me up on that fateful autumn morning in 2003 and asking me, “Do you know what’s going on right now?” Of course I don’t, nitwit, I’ve been asleep. I didn’t say that. What I did say, after looking out of my bedroom window and seeing a red sky and black ash everywhere, was: “Nuclear fucking holocaust?”

We had the news on all day, and you better believe we never strayed far from the TV. As ash continued to pour onto our cars, our house, our neighborhood, the fire drew closer. I remember this moment as if it happened an hour ago: the news said that the fire was in Tierrasanta
and might or might not jump the 15. If it did jump across the 15, it could have the strength to engulf Kearny Mesa, destroy Montgomery Field, and easily leap over the 805, at which point we might as well be barbeque.

The fire did jump the 15. It suddenly occurred to me that my best friend lived in Serra Mesa, just across the 15 from Tierrasanta (see the map I linked to in the last paragraph.) It then occurred to me that, if I knew her as well as I thought I did, odds were good that she was out on the porch taking pictures of the fire with her family. I frantically called her.

BFF: Hello?
Me: Hey, what are you doing?
BFF: Taking pictures of the fire with my family.
Me: :eek:
Me: …
Me: :eek:
BFF: Well, the police said to stay at home until we get an order to evacuate.

I couldn’t get off the phone fast enough at that point. I couldn’t bear the thought that the police would be distracted by some other issue and neglect to evacuate her part of Serra Mesa, the armpit of the neighborhood, where she and other Vietnamese immigrants dependent on federal aid lived in cramped apartments and drove 10-year-old Hondas. It never happened, but it could have.

Now I live in Serra Mesa. When push comes to shove, you can bet I won’t be taking pictures.

2

Good luck. There was a huge nasty wildfire far too close to where I live earlier this year, so I know a bit about it. I didn’t have to evacuate, but I know a fair number of people who did. And the smoke…Og, the smoke.

If they tell you to go, go! I wasn’t about to leave until I was told to, but I was ready to. The whole town could have gone up. We got really lucky.

3

Hi Fetus: I lived in San Diego during the fires and we were evacuated for three days from Mission Gorge/San Carlos. Thank goodness we didn’t lose our house; neighbors on the other side of the gorge were burned out.

Yikes!

4

My Mom is in Solana Beach right on the lagoon. She’s really freaked out but then she is a worrier. I don’t think that she’s in any real danger.

There’s another little fire in Santa Barbara County over near Santa Ynez at Sedgwick ranch. Winds have moved to offshore which I think is a good thing for the fire fighters. What a day.

5

We’ve got two major fires in San Diego County at this time, one near the border with Mexico southeast of San Diego City, and one near Ramona, northeast of San Diego city (both as indicated by Fetus’ first two links.)

My father and step-mother live towards the southwestern end of Ramona; one of her daughters and the daughter’s family live towards the northeastern end of Ramona, so the fire near there is what I’m most closely watching.

My father and step-mother are currently on a driving vacation in central California; I have talked to my step-mother a couple times today. She told me during the second call that her son-in-law in Ramona said he will notify them if he feels the situation gets serious enough they should come back.

The Cedar fire in 2003 got close enough to my work place that our data center, which is normally staffed and operational 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, was powered down and it’s building left unstaffed for several hours, until the fire turned away from the neighborhood.

That fire got close enough to my neighborhood that I decided to pack a suitcase just in case, but it turned away before any need to evacuate developed.

As for the current situation, I’m seeing/hearing that the Santa Ana condition that is driving these fires with it’s gusty winds and low humidity will continue at least into Tuesday. Oh man, still plenty of potential for things to get real ugly.

6

Man, I so sorry for this travail. But, to put some perspective on it, I’m a 1961 born Californian, and my birthday, in November, was the last day of the Belaire Fire, way back then. My mom remembers the hellish smoke from that one, and I do remember, too, that autumn was the time of fires and darkening skies.

7

I’d imagine the smoke plume will be more of a concern. If she normally sleeps with her windows open, she might want to close them. This is because I remember during the 2003 fires we were seeing ash falling from the smoke; obviously not something to breath in if at all possible.

8

Yeah, she said that the smell was awful.

Santa Barbara got a nasty ash dusting from the Zaca fire a couple of months ago. This latest batch of Santa Anas has made the whole town filthy of the last two days. My girlfriend’s little white dog is gray today.

9

I’m glad you mentioned that. I normally sleep with my windows open. Of course, I’m not very close to the fire at this point, but it can spread quickly, and I remember ash pouring all over my neighborhood back in 2003 when I was pretty far away from the fire.

(FTR, I would appreciate if y’all stopped capitalizing my username. Thanks.)

10

I was watching Letterman one night several years ago, when Dave decided to get on the phone and call Johnny Carson at home. The conversation started like this:

Dave: “Johnny! How are things in California?”

Johnny: “Well the mudslides are putting out the fires.”

:smiley:

I live in a valley in Eastern Washington, where the summers are extremely dry and hot. We’re surrounded by hills covered in dead, dry grass, and every summer something goes up. This summer I commented to some family friends who were visiting from out of town, “Well, you’ve arrived just in time for our annual fire.” These fires fill the entire valley with thick, stinky smoke, which is no fun at all when a bicycle is your primary form of transportation.

11

I just got a call from my friend in San Diego. Back in 2003, we had to evacuate when the Cedar Fire roared towards us. Hundreds of homes were burned within 5 miles of us. She’s safe now, but today’s blaze has some of her relatives in the East County pretty scared. How ironic–during our phone conversation this evening, 60 minutes had a segment on the new breed of megafires in the West.

12

Well, you can’t say nobody expected this. The San’a Anas were expected, and fires occur just about every year at this time. This year, though, they decided to all happen at once, from Malibu to the border. The winds in Malibu were pretty strong, I hear.

13

Agreed, this sucks. My wife, our cats, and I live a bit too close to the Ramona fire to feel entirely safe… we’re keeping an eye on the news. A bit of ash fell in the Mira Mesa area today while I was at work, and I just washed my car yesterday!!

If you hear that they’ve evacuated NE Escondido, you’ll know that we’re either on the road or fast asleep about to die a hellish death. :wink:

14

For out-of-towners keeping score, the entire city of Ramona (and, I think, the surrounding area) has been evacuated through Escondido.

15

Oops, sorry. Unintentional.

16

Yep, and a lot of it was taped here. I’m in Ketchum. I’d just arrived a few days before it started. Welcome to Idaho! Not!

They were telling people with breathing-related health problems to get out of the area until the fire was under control because the smoke was horrible. The worst of the smoke was actually from the backburning the firefighters were doing to keep the main fire away from us; once things were contained, though I’m sure there’s still burning going out there in spots, the smoke went away.

Those firefighters have my eternal gratitude. I hope some of them are working on your fires, because they kicked all kinds of butt here.

17

The San Diego County situation got considerably worse overnight. All of Ramona is under mandatory evacuation, and I understand there are now 8 separate fires within the county. Yes, eight fires.

18

Yeah, this is fun. We live just a couple of miles from the Wild Animal Park, and I can see the fire just over the hill. Fortunately for us, the wind is not blowing in our direction, but all of the roads are blocked off. I got up to go to work, only to find out when I got in the car that all the roads going south are closed. I came back home and turned on the news and found out how bad it is…

I guess I’ll be packing and getting ready to evacuate.

19

Okie dokie… all packed!

If we get told to evacuate, I just have to throw the cats and the wife in the car. Guess we’ll head north and wake up my buddy in Temecula.

20

Now there is a new fire near Devore, closing the northbound I-15 through the pass. Just lovely. Hope everybody in San Diego stays safe. We’re in for another bumpy fire season.