I posted parts of this, in the pit thread by mistake:
At least two relatives’ homes are in the evacuation areas, one of them moved to her new home last week! I complained before we were having a hell of an October but this is getting ridiculous!
There is now MANDATORY evacuation orders for:
Glen Helen - North side of I15
Cajon Canyon towards Blue Cut
Devore & Devore Heights - All the way up Muscoy Area
Claremont North of Baseline & Claraboya (Palmer Canyon-Padua Hills Thompson Creek) La Verne - North Side of Live Oak Reservoir (Esperanza & Stevens Ranch Rd)
As the only bit of good news: it looks like Cucamonga (Yes! There is a Cucamonga) is out of the recently imposed evacuation mandate: http://www.ci.rancho-cucamonga.ca.us/
(I tried typing this up earlier this evening, but the hamsters all went on a break immediately after I had previewed, so I’ll try again!)
This has been one day I never want to see again.
My brother and sister-in-law were evacuated from their home in the eastern part of Escondido and were most likely driving to her brother’s house in Barlow.
My father and step-mother had to evacuate their home in the western part of Ramona, but last I knew were feeling confident it would be OK.
I’m in San Diego’s Serra Mesa neighborhood. No evacuations here (at least so far!), but I’ve piled my lock boxes of vital records and papers near the door along with a suitcase full of clothing. If I have to get out I’ll go to my sister and brother-in-law in Chula Vista.
I’ve had some major worries about my work place, which is in a business park that is part of the previously mentioned Scripps Ranch neighborhood of San Diego. But I haven’t heard a thing about any firms in the business park burning, and my division’s VP called me a few minutes ago to say I was not to come into work tomorrow, but to keep myself on-call. (The mayor of the city had asked all private businesses to let their people stay home tomorrow, as major roadways are likely to still be closed tomorrow, plus wanting to minimize exposure to the smoke and ashes and soot that will definitely still be present in the air tomorrow.)
Even down here in Orange County, it’s smoke from horizon to horizon. There’s ash everywhere, the light is an eerie shade of red, and it smells like a thousand barbecues. My family, friends, and I are all fine, thank the Gods, aside from smoke-induced headaches.
That’s correct - embers were blown across I-15 where it’s at one it’s widest stretches in San Diego. Which obviously only aggravated an already bad situation.
Yeah, it’s a mess out here. I am also in OC, and it has been raining ash for two days now, and the air is terrible.
Good friends of ours lived in San Bernardino. Yes, I said lived. Their house burned to the ground last night, along with all the stuff they’d accumulated in about 50 years of marriage. Their kids managed to grab one computer, the dog, some insurance papers and a few photos before they were chased out. 75% of the homes in their neighborhood were destroyed. The couple was in Baltimore trying to get home last I heard.
Firefighters are amazing people. Blonde hug your hubby for me and thank him profusely.
Oh man, my heart goes out to all of you. We had a really bad year, the worst ever I think for fires in BC. None of it was in this part of the province but that was just pure luck and the grace of God. All the North Shore hiking trails were closed and some of the parks too.
Now it’s floods. Last week we broke records that had stood since they started keeping 'em.
I’ll be praying tonight. For some odd reason, I hadn’t even thought about the fires affecting Dopers. It’s scarier when it’s someone you know, of course, but my heart goes out to everyone down there.
My brother lives in northern San Bernardino, by Cal State SB.
Him and his kidswere evacuated earlier today.
My sister forwarded some pictures he took this morning over his back fence.
She hasn’t heard from him in a while, and doesn’t know if his house is still there or not.
I don’t know if this link is gonna work or not, but here it is.
So yeah, part of Upland is being evacuated right now. North of baseline and east of euclid. I’m south of Baseline and West of Euclid, so with a little luck, I won’t need to evacuate tonight. It’s still too close for comfort though.
For comparison, here are the stats from the 1993 wildfires, considered by locals to be the worst in recent memory:
215,000 acres burned
1150 homes destroyed
3 dead
So yeah, this is a big one. Luckily they stopped the Simi Valley fire from crossing the freeway, so many homes from there to Malibu were saved. Sorry to see that many weren’t so lucky.
It is so nasty here in OC. We’re 4.5 miles from the coast, but we’ve had nasty air and ashe “snow” for 2 or 3 days now. We seem to be a family of asthmatics. Rico, 2 of our 3 cats (Ashleigh and Duffy), and me. Ric suspended excersizing until the air quality gets better. I’ve been having chest pain, burning eyes and nose, etc. for a couple days. And this morning Duffy had a asthma attack that required meds.
If it’s this bad so far away, I can’t image what it’s like closer! pepperlandgirl, and everyone else around the areas, prays and good thoughts are heading your way.
Yeah, P.G., get moving! Up here at one point the fires were moving something like 30mph. If you get a good wind going, it can send sparks ahead an amazing distance.
Don’t forget:
Family pictures
Important papers, including Id’s, insurance, medical, wills, deeds, auto, reciepts for major items, and if you have a dog or cat, shots records. Also any letters or manuscripts.
Prescription drugs and glasses
Computer discs
Family heirlooms / keepsakes
Clothing - be sensible. Take stuff you wear everyday rather than the expensive dress that you’ve worn twice. Same with shoes and jackets. Yes, jackets. if you do lose your home they’re one of the more expensive things to replace.
Ready to eat food. If you can’t get home in a hurry you may need a bite before you get set up in a refuge. Take something to drink too. You may be stuck in a major traffic jam for some time.
Gas up the car. Fill it, if possible. Take along water for the radiater too. It’ll be hot and if you end up sitting on the road, you might have to think about overheating.
Blankets
A few basic household items - a couple of pots, knives and forks, plates, towels, etc. This is in case you do get burned out and have to start over. Keep it to a small box that’ll fit in your trunk. Again, take your everyday stuff, the things you use the most.
First aid kit
Cellphone or phonecards in case you want to get in touch with out of area friends and relatives. Also, your personal phone book.
All the cash you can get
Kid’s favorite toy
I don’t know what the situation is for pets down there. Up here, the SPCA took them in and people got them back after the fire. If you have pets, take carrying cages for cats and small dogs, and something to tie up large dogs. Take food too.
Seconding what EJsGirl and zoogirl said. If you are even remotely in danger, pack up and haul ass now!
These fires are very, very nasty. Nothing like a lone building fire. The radiated heat can cook a human a surprising distance from any actual flame, the fire front can move ay freeway speeds (60MPH+) if it chooses to. It can be fickle and change direction in minutes. Fire fronts can also leap a lot more than a ten-lane freeway. In the Lithgow fires of a few years ago near Sydney, the entire town of Lithgow was jumped by the front. The town is in a valley, and fire “crowning” in the treetops jumped from one mountain top to another. Not embers, but actual flames hundreds of feet high (heck, embers and burning leaves too, I guess). They were swept across the valley by the huge inrush of air which the firestorm had created. This air of course brought in more oxygen, and well… It was a nasty one.
I don’t mean to be alarmist, and I have described fires at the higher end of the scale, but still, these things are deadly. Do please respect them (and getting the hell out of their way is the best way to do that).
Ok, we’ve been keeping an eye on the situation and calling the center and Upland is no longer part of the mandatory evacuation zone. Hopefully this will remain the case, but I’m still going to load up the car in case tomorrow the fates decide it’ll be fun to burn down the rest of the Inland Empire.
This is a nice bit of empathy, LoadedDog. Thanks, because I am currently in southern Cal, but – so far – not in the fire areas. But I just put my passport in my purse. I guess that is my priority. I drive around all over for work, but will be avoiding a lot of areas in the morning. And traffic was already very bad due to bus and rail strikes!! I had to take cough syrup. Washed my car altho’ it will get more ash on it.
A lot of advice in this thread is very good. The news also suggested having your car out of the garage and pointed toward the street.
Bloody hell, I just went to get a cuppa (I work nights) - from up here on the 19th floor in North Hollywood, I can see a part of the horizon lined out in orange flames… Goddammit, that is spooky.
Fellow SoCal dopers, stay safe, now. Get the hell out of Dodge if needs be. Houses can be rebuilt.
