San Diego Fire

[boothten]

[color=darkblue][size=1]Has anyone else heard of it? I live in Escondido which is [b]EXTREMELY[/b] close. I can't get over the fact that it may come closer to our home. Does anyone else live near/around here? If or if not, what are your opinions on it?

-Lan[/color][/size]

[destro53]

Oh, that does suck. Hope it doesn't get any closer. I live in VA, so I'm kinda on the opposite side of the country, but still, I've been keeping track of it. Hope you get through ok!

[Shy]

[size=1]I live in Rancho Cucmonga, and we have some serious fires of our own right now. I wasn't able to drive home on the freeway because of the darn things, and as a result it took me twice as long to get home from work. Right now they are aboutone or two miles from my house, but we live in such a highly residential area that I can't imagine the firefighters lettings it get much closer. Two of my friends had to evacuate their homes during the weekend, and classes have been cancelled at the local high schools and my college. We're used to having fires in the area, but this is much larger and more severe than anything we've had in recent memory.

The good news is that everyone's safe, even though Jenna is acting funny because of the smoke. Poor girl.

-Shy[/size]

[BabyGirl]

[color=deeppink]There are fires burning in Fillmore, Simi Valley, and Moorpark right now, which are actually just east of where I live in Ventura. However, I'm not too concerned that these fires are going to rage over the hills that separate Ventura [a beach town] from the more desert-esque areas inland.

I can see how these fires start, though, it hasn't rained in months. I personally can't remember the last time that it rained...it was before I went home for summer vacation, I believe. All of the hills are brown, and they're especially brown inland where it gets 20-30 degrees hotter than it ever does in Ventura.

In the end, however, again....I'm not concerned about these certain fires reaching my city. The worst thing that we've got right now is a smoke layer floating around over the sun, makes the air look dirty and hazy. I think that the fires close to here will be contained before they even try to reach Ventura.

Edit: I guess that Gray Davis included our county, Ventura County, on the list of four counties who are in a state of emergency. But Ventura County is pretty big, and includes six large cities, Moorpark being one of those. I guess that's why we're on the list ^_^;

[img]http://babygirl.250free.com/simi_fire.jpg[/img][/color]

[DeathKnight]

[color=crimson]Hope everything is alright for you Josh, Jenna.

We OBers will fight the fire! Yea!

Who is with me? >:P

But, really, stay safe all you people in harm's way.[/color]

[Shinmaru]

I live in La Puente, which is thankfully out of the way of the fire, but we're still feeling the effects of it.

Our air quality, which wasn't too great to begin with, has gotten much worse because we now have ash floating around everywhere. As one of my teachers described it, "It's like it's snowing, but with ash rather than snow."

Plus, all the smoke and stuff is making everything even hotter than it usually is because it's trapping heat down here. I believe that's the source of the recent heat wave around here, heh.

[Guest XxMaRkxX]

Yeah I have heard of this fire...I live in san diego...I am not right by the fire but there are ashes and smoke...When you look outside it is all orange...All of the schools are shut down it sucks...:(

[moonlight angel]

i live in Temecula and there is so much smoke it tints the sky orange...pretty creepy if you ask me...we haven't been told there's any danger for us but i have a friend who lives in Poway who can't go outside without a mask on because of the smoke and ash. i feel bad for all the people with asthma....anyway, i just hope this is all over soon. :(

[boothten]

[color=darkblue][size=1]Well, unfortunately, I have asthma, which really stinks. I have to use a mask when I go outside, but sometimes I'm able to withstand the air. Sirens are always going off as well, even at the middle of the night.

I feel sorry for the firemen, who don't even know if their houses are still standing or not. I can't help but feel sorry for everyone who has gotten the effects of the wildfire. Firemen, policemen, etc.

-Lan[/color][/size]

[Raiha]

[color=royalblue]My grandmother, Aunt and Uncle, and probably a few other cousins had to evacuate their houses. Lake Arrowhead is in deep ****. All those dying trees are just begging to be ravaged.

It sucks really. Considering one of them was started by a punkass pyromaniac arsonist. Damn.[/color]

[Xyandar]

I heard of the fire. I live in Canada. I'm confused on how the fire was started.. Im hearing that 2 people started it.. but i dont know how people can start that big of a fire...

[BabyGirl]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Xyandar [/i]
[B] Im hearing that 2 people started it.. but i dont know how people can start that big of a fire... [/B][/QUOTE]

[color=deeppink]Well, there's more than one fire. There's three in San Diego County alone.

The San Diego/Cedar fire was started by a hunter who was lost, fired a flare, and ended up lighting brush on fire. The whole thing spiraled out of control.

The Piru fire in Ventura County is proved to be an arson case where someone intentionally started it. Why someone would want to do that is beyond me.

I'm unsure about the other fires, but in this type of weather with the Santa Ana winds, basically anything could cause a big flare up like the ones going on now. [/color]

[James]

[color=#707875]I really hope that things improve soon. I sympathize with you guys...especially considering the record-breaking fires that we had in Sydney and Canberra last year.

Very dangerous and very scary. I hope that both of you stay safe (and I hope that everyone in the affected areas is able to reach safety).[/color]

[Nate]

[SIZE=1][quote](CBS/AP) The hot, dry winds that have fueled California's massive wildfires eased Tuesday, but the battle against the flames continued with lives and million-dollar homes on the line.

At least 17 deaths were blamed on the fires, 15 in Southern California and two in Mexico, as separate blazes were scattered along an arc from the suburbs northwest of Los Angeles to Ensenada, about 60 miles south of the border.

The fires have burned more than 500,000 acres ? or about 780 square miles, roughly three-quarters the total area of Rhode Island.

"You can dream up horror movies, and they wouldn't be this bad," said Gene Zimmerman, supervisor of the San Bernardino National Forest.

President Bush addressed the fires in a Rose Garden press conference Tuesday.

"We are monitoring the fires in California," Mr. Bush said. "I express my deepest concern and sympathy for those whose lives have been hurt badly by these fires."

One of the biggest fire fights on Tuesday was unfolding in the Santa Susana Mountains that separate Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, where 1.3 million people live, from Simi Valley in neighboring Ventura County.

The Simi Valley fire, which has destroyed 13 homes since it began Saturday, was burning dangerously close to a gated community of million-dollar mansions in Los Angeles' Chatsworth section. It was only 5 percent contained.

In San Bernardino County, firefighters wrestled with two large fires that had merged into one. The Old Fire and the Grand Prix Fire have destroyed more than 520 homes, and were threatening the mountain resort town of Lake Arrowhead.

"It is one of our major concerns at the moment," U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Carol Beckley said late Monday.

Conditions were equally grim in San Diego County, where ash from three large fires fell on the beaches like snow and drivers had turn on their headlights during the day.

San Diego Fire Chief Jeff Bowman was worried that the fires would merge into one gigantic blaze, pushing already strained resources to the breaking point.

The biggest fire in the state ? the Cedar fire in San Diego County, which has burned 206,000 acres ? was not contained at all.

"It would be disingenuous to say we have control of these fires. Right now we are throwing everything we can at them," Dallas Jones, director of the state Office of Emergency Services, said of the San Diego blazes.

In Ventura County, a fire near the community of Piru was threatening approximately 300 homes Tuesday, authorities said. It was 10 percent contained.

Firefighters appeared to be getting one advantage, with a decrease in the Santa Ana wind. The hot, dry wind that blows from the desert down to the sea this time of year had gusted to as much as 70 mph in recent days. The wind let up on Monday and Tuesday and wasn't expected to return at least until Wednesday.

But officials were still concerned about "crowning," in which flames leap from one treetop to another, leaving firefighters on the ground all but powerless to stop them.

"If that occurs we don't have the capability to put those fires out," Beckley said. "It will be a firestorm."

More than 10,000 firefighters were battling the flames, which by Tuesday had already cost the state more than $24 million.

"This will be the most expensive fire in California history, both in loss of property and the cost of fighting it," Jones said.

More resources were on the way from Arizona and Nevada, which were answering pleas for help from Gov. Gray Davis.

On Monday, Mr. Bush granted Davis' request to declare the region a disaster area, opening the door to grants, loans and other aid to residents and businesses in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties.

Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, tells the CBS News Early Show that his agency has been offering state and local agencies fire management assistance grants that pay up to 75 percent of the costs of fighting fires. FEMA planned Tuesday to unveil a toll-free number for people to register for aid.

The 15 people killed were the most since the devastating Oakland Hills fire that killed 25 people and destroyed more than 3,000 homes in October 1991. Officials say most the dead ignored orders to evacuate, CBS News Correspondent Jennifer Miller.

"When you are asked to leave, do it immediately," San Diego County Sheriff Bill Kolender said. "Do not wait."

Scores of people were also injured. Several children have had asthma attacks because of poor air quality, reports CBS News Correspondent Hattie Kauffman.

The fires has also knocked out power to 70,000 people, closed highways, cancelled school and disrupted air travel.

©MMIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
[/quote]
[quote]SAN DIEGO - Crews battling some of the most destructive and deadly wildfires in California history are so exhausted they are being pulled off fire lines, even if it means more homes will be destroyed, a Forest Service fire chief said Tuesday as a pair of blazes threatened to merge.

At least 17 deaths were blamed on the fires, 15 in Southern California and two in Mexico, as separate blazes were scattered along an arc from the suburbs northwest of Los Angeles to Ensenada, Mexico, about 60 miles south of the border. At least 1,552 homes had been destroyed in California.

Firefighters beat back flames that had threatened hundreds of homes in northwest Los Angeles, but conditions were more critical to the south in San Diego County, where the Cedar and Paradise fires were separated by only two miles and threatening to join.

"There's blocks of homes that are going to burn to the ground this afternoon, in my opinion," said Rich Hawkins, a Forest Service fire chief. "My objective is to make sure there's nobody in them."

Hawkins said some firefighters were being taken off the lines Tuesday morning.

"They're so fatigued that despite the fact the fire perimeter might become much larger, we're not willing to let the firefighters continue any further," Hawkins said of firefighters fighting the Cedar and Paradise fires. "They are too fatigued from three days of battle."

Hawkins said that lunches intended for firefighters on Monday weren't delivered until Tuesday morning and there was a shortage of diesel fuel in some cases.

"It's like war. This whole fire has been a war so far," Hawkins said.

The mountain community of Julian in San Diego County was being evacuated.

More than 521,929 acres of brush, forest and homes _ or about 815 square miles, roughly three-quarters the total area of Rhode Island _ had burned in California.

Crews battling the Simi Valley fire in the Santa Susana Mountains, which separate the northwest corner of Los Angeles from Simi Valley in neighboring Ventura County, had feared they could lose hundreds of homes in the Chatsworth section.

"They saved every one of them," said Bill Peters, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry.

Firefighters went driveway to driveway through the night in the Chatsworth area, which extends up the Santa Susana slopes from the city's San Fernando Valley, and turned back the flames before dawn, Peters said.

The fire teams were aided by reinforcements who arrived Monday and by calmer weather that included increased humidity, lower temperatures and a break from the Santa Ana wind that had gusted up to 70 mph earlier in the week. The hot, dry Santa Ana blows from the high desert down to the sea at this time of year.

More than 10,000 firefighters were battling the flames, which by Tuesday had already cost the state more than $24 million. More resources were on the way from Arizona and Nevada, which each volunteered the use of 50 fire trucks, and Nevada also was sending three helicopters.

Crews east of Los Angeles lost 20 buildings during the night in the Strawberry Peak section of the San Bernardino National Forest. They couldn't immediately say if the structures, near Lake Arrowhead, were homes or outbuildings.

The Strawberry Peak area was hit by a combination of two fires that had merged into one during the weekend. One, the Old Fire, had destroyed at least 450 homes and been blamed for two deaths.

Lake Arrowhead, at an elevation of 5,100 feet, was particularly vulnerable because a beetle infestation has devastated trees in the area.

In Mexico, meanwhile, firefighters had brought under control all but two of the 30 wildfires that started during the weekend, and hundreds of people evacuated near Ensenada had been allowed to return home, an emergency official said Tuesday. Two people died Sunday when they were trapped in their burning home, one of about 15 Ensenada houses destroyed by the flames.

Two of the fires in Mexico had spread across the border from California and one, near Tecate, was still burning Tuesday, emergency official Raymundo Noriega said.

Some of the California fires were believed started by arsonists. Investigators sought two men who were seen throwing flaming objects from a van in the area of the Old Fire.

On Monday, President Bush declared the region a disaster area, opening the door for aid to residents and businesses in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties.

Scores of people have been injured by this week's fires. Two people at the University of California, San Diego, Medical Center were in serious to critical condition with burns over more than 55 percent of their bodies, spokeswoman Eileen Callahan said.

The fires also knocked out power to tens of thousands of people, closed highways and disrupted air travel.[/quote][/size]

I got it from Comcast new center, off of [url]www.comcast.net/comcast.html[/url]

[scrmngfangrl]

we can see the smoke from the antelope valley to the south. it was really bad some time ago...don't remember when...ick. in the newspaper it was on the opposite side of the article on our local anime con.
last year my friend had to evacuate an sleep inside our gym. thankfully the fire didn't reach her area.

[Guest cloricus]

Capitalism sucks doesn't it? When this bunch of fires is over I would crucify your government if what we are hearing over here that controls that normally stop this sort of thing were not carried out due to "budgetary constraints" is true.
Though I sympathise massively for every one who is effected by this as I (and my family) have come close to our house been destroyed nearly every bush fire session for a few years, last year a major fire came up the hill and nearly broke the containment line which would have meant it would have wiped out this corner of the city. (About 800 houses.) And at my mothers house arsonists caused massive bush fires that swept around the town she lives in for the last three years and each time was stopped at her fence line. Literarily.

[Japan]

I have a couple friends who live near it *hint*hint*
I worry a lot. I am afraid that they might get hurt, or their house will get burned down and they will lose everything. I've been praying a lot for their safety. Many people are already homeless. I am sorry that they lost their homes. I just hope that the fire fighters stop that fre before it destroys anymore homes.

[BabyGirl]

[color=deeppink]This morning Ventura is exceptionally smokey. The fire that burned its way through Santa Clarita last night is right at the border of Ventura/Los Angeles County, and we're just a few towns over.

The mountains are blocked from view by the smoke, and when I walked out to my car this morning, I found it covered with ash. I can't believe the air quality to be too healthy right now, which is unfortunate because I am already coughing myself to death with this cold :P

However, I think things are looking up for the fires. The winds have died down and it's cooling off finally. I wonder how long it will really take to get the whole thing under control.

Being a small town Midwestern girl, California has been nothing but one huge adventure for me o_o[/color]

[scrmngfangrl]

they might cancel school tomarrow. last time there was a fire here and all the ash came like snow they didn't shut down school, but that might have been during the summer or something.


capitolism...wait what? id didn't know there was any budget restraints or whatever...

[Trigun 11]

Thank god I live in Kansas. My Uncle ( who lives in San Bernadino) was evacuated from his house in the Highlands. My Uncle Scott is up in by Big Bear Fighting the Fire up there. Been there since Tuesday. You never realise how big the fires are until someone you know is fighting them

[Noirrac]

I live in Venice, which is about an hour away from Simi Valley. On the second or third day of the fires I went outside and the sky was completely gray except for this burning orange hole. Ash was lightly falling from the sky and everything was tinted an ugly orange hue. The day after that I went to my friend's house in Chatsworth. By the time we got there it was just before sundown and the sun had gone from orange to red. The smoke and clouds aroun it were purple, and it looked like this bloody bruise of some kind. It was like those end-of-the-world scenes in movies.

PE class was shut down for quite a while because of the air quality and my sister stayed home with frequent asthma attacks and such...

My friend never had to evacuate because the fires were on the other side of the freeway. I'm glad that the fires are dying down now (or so I've heard), but I can't imagine how confusing and horrible it must be for the people that were evacuated.