We're burning up!

[David]

Originally Posted by estranged4life

Sending you my thoughts, I have family throughout California, so I am concerned about these fires.

Where in CA, Brian?

Southern CA fires will continue to destroy homes every year because residential development itself spreads like a wildfire. I'm not anti-development by any means, but I'm just saying this sort of disaster is inevitable, given three inevitable things:

1. Low rainfall is typical -- not atypical -- for Southern CA. The result is that our coastal hills & valleys are covered with dry brush, like chaparral & scrub oak. It makes superb kindling.

2. The Santa Anas are a constant feature of our weather. They're warm & dry & very powerful & super-efficient at fanning flames & transporting cinders.

3. Each year, more & more areas that were once nothing but wilderness are turned into residential areas, with homes & schools & shopping centers. Take the Irvine/Foothill Ranch fire: Most of the development in that region is new. The huge tracts of homes along Portola & Sand Canyon, for example, were built only in the past five to seven years. I used to drive that way to the freeway (I-5) & I remember when it was a drive through fields of strawberries & a county dump.

[BTFLCHLD]

scary stuff. my BF has taken in a couple from topanga canyon, and his family has a house in lake arrowhead. what scares me most are nutjobs that could light additonal fires and those idiots who toss cigs. stay safe everybody. thanks for checking in.

[BTFLCHLD]

Originally Posted by David

fields of strawberries & a county dump.

bet you miss that!

[suzyvermoesen]

Originally Posted by Beachwood Mac

^ Glad to hear you are okay Jamie! I thought you lived in Escondido and I got worried.

Terry

Just saw the fires on the news and i/we were horrified by them.
I immediately thought of you Terry ,and turned the computer on to check.
I'm so glad to read you're still ok and i truly hope the wind will go down soon so no more homes get burned.
I'll keep a candle burning for all of you out there...

Hugs
Suzy

[skcin]

This is terrible. Stay safe, Cali Ledgies!

[DrummerDeanna]

^^

It is terrible..it's scaring the **** out of me and it's just depressing - I feel so helpless and I can't get a hold of my friend in San Diego - I'm sure he's fine but I'd like to at least make contact.

[Beachwood Mac]

Originally Posted by suzyvermoesen

Just saw the fires on the news and i/we were horrified by them.
I immediately thought of you Terry ,and turned the computer on to check.
I'm so glad to read you're still ok and i truly hope the wind will go down soon so no more homes get burned.
I'll keep a candle burning for all of you out there...

Hugs
Suzy

Thanks for the well wishes Suzy and everyone. Reports today have over 1,000 homes destroyed in San Diego alone. I have 2 families that have been evacuated from their homes staying with me. It feels like the winds are starting to shift along the coast so hopefully it's gone as far west as it's going to. I still can't believe it has almost reached the coast near Del Mar. They are having voluntary evacuations right now at the edge of Chula Vista including the area where Coors Amphitheater is for those who have seen FM or Stevie at that venue. The helicopters are now able to fly in some areas dropping water on the flames and hopefully they will be joined today by fixed wing planes to do the same. There is ash everywhere and once this is all done the air quality will be nasty for the rest of the week if not longer.

[BTFLCHLD]

thankfully winds aren't as bad today but the fires still rage.

[gretchen]

I just want to say again how my thoughts and prayers are with you all in Cali. This is just a hellish situation and I just sit with my jaw open seeing the footage on CNN. Please be safe. And special hugs again to my best friend out there on the coast, I love you hun and hope you and your loved ones are OK!!!!!!

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by jkmaletic

Hey All-

I (Jamie) actually live in La Mesa (just east of the city of San Diego). I am fine, although my partner and I have just gotten done packing 3 days worth of clothes, medications, pet food etc. in case we suddenly have to leave.
Today at around 3pm, I had to evacuate my workplace due to a fire being about 1 block away. I work in a radiology clinic and a patient spotted smoke across the street. After seeing it myself, we got all of our patients out of the building and gave them our cards to reschedule their appointments. After that, I RUSHED MY ASS home! That's when I started packing. So we are ready to go if we need to. One thing I learned - it's good to watch the news for updates, but you also gotta look out your windows too. I NEVER expected to see black smoke across the street from my workplace today, but there it was.

Thanks for all your kind words. You know, Stevie's house may also be in danger with the Malibu fire. She's safe in Chicago though. I hope her home is ok - can you imagine all the poetry and demos and ....I don't even wanna think about it.

Beachwood you stay safe too!

~jamie

Hi, Jamie,

They've both passed on, but my grandparents used to live in Spring Valley off of Valencia St & Central Ave, I heard this morning that there was an out of control fire near Dictionary Hill & Mt Miguel. Any news from that area?

[sasja]

I can't watch the reports, it's so awful.
My prayers for everyone out there

[jannieC]

Originally Posted by jkmaletic

Hey All-

I (Jamie) actually live in La Mesa (just east of the city of San Diego). I am fine, although my partner and I have just gotten done packing 3 days worth of clothes, medications, pet food etc. in case we suddenly have to leave.
Today at around 3pm, I had to evacuate my workplace due to a fire being about 1 block away. I work in a radiology clinic and a patient spotted smoke across the street. After seeing it myself, we got all of our patients out of the building and gave them our cards to reschedule their appointments. After that, I RUSHED MY ASS home! That's when I started packing. So we are ready to go if we need to. One thing I learned - it's good to watch the news for updates, but you also gotta look out your windows too. I NEVER expected to see black smoke across the street from my workplace today, but there it was.

Thanks for all your kind words. You know, Stevie's house may also be in danger with the Malibu fire. She's safe in Chicago though. I hope her home is ok - can you imagine all the poetry and demos and ....I don't even wanna think about it.

Beachwood you stay safe too!

~jamie

I'm so glad you were able to pack your things- my heart really breaks for people who don't have time to try and gather at least *some* things together.

Jamie and Beachwood Mac (Terry, I think?) I'm glad you're both okay and please know that you're in our thoughts.

[jkmaletic]

Originally Posted by chiliD

Hi, Jamie,

They've both passed on, but my grandparents used to live in Spring Valley off of Valencia St & Central Ave, I heard this morning that there was an out of control fire near Dictionary Hill & Mt Miguel. Any news from that area?

That fire is part of the "Harris Fire" and it is still burning. That is also the fire that would cause me to evacuate, so I'm keeping a close eye.

[jkmaletic]

Originally Posted by jannieC

I'm so glad you were able to pack your things- my heart really breaks for people who don't have time to try and gather at least *some* things together.

Jamie and Beachwood Mac (Terry, I think?) I'm glad you're both okay and please know that you're in our thoughts.

Thanks for your kind words. Yeah, I'm glad I packed some stuff to go - including a few Stevie things of course.

~jamie

[Gypsy-Rhiannon]

Stay safe everyone. I can't imagine how awful this must be for everyone out there