The West Is On Fire!

Hi everyone! Perhaps you've heard, Southern California is on fire! I'm just posting this because I'm right in the line of fire, no pun intended. Last I heard there were about 8 fires going on as we speak and one or two may have combined. I Live in Poway which I'm thinking is going to be the next area to be evacuated. The surrounding counties (Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Penasquitos, Ramona, etc...) Have already been evacuated as well as the north east section of Poway. There are winds anywhere from 15 to 60 mph.

The way things are looking I think the flames are going to chase us all out to the coast.

The sky is covered in smoke and its raining ash a little bit. I just went to get gas just in case I have to leave and all of the gas stations in town were backed up into the streets with people getting gas so they could evacuate.

Apparantly, they haven't been able to fly in the firefighting planes because of heavy winds but they have called for back-up from all across the state. My town has declared a local state of emergency and has set up shelters at a few of the highschools.

Oh well, we'll see how things go. I already have my car packed up with everything I need except for my computer. Its these darn Santa Ana winds, they billow the flames and spread them fast. I sure hope this whole thing blows over...

I'll try and keep things updated with my phone.

Best of luck I hope your home escapes the fire! It's on the news here in the UK and it looks pretty bad! Stay safe..

reply to post by xxblackoctoberxx


You do the best you can and keep you and yours safe mate...We suffer big bushfires here in south east australia most summers so I can only imagine what you are going thru...

The main thing is man, protect the lives of you and yours and as many important possessions you can...

Above all, stay safe as far as your person goes...

Hopin and prayin for ya man...

Godspeed and Peace

Wow.
It warms my heart that the first two responses are good wishes from our friends across the pond.
Thanks mates!


Stay safe XX and keep an eye out for the very old, and the very young who may be confused by events. Help them if you can.

I do not live in Ca. anymore, but have dear relatives in LAGUNA NIGUEL.
Is that in one of the affected areas? In the 'line of fire'?
I've got to now, and pop a note off to them....

Keep us updated...

Last night I was checking out satellite images and saw a new hot spot detected in Orange County, but when I came back this morning after my husband saying 7 counties are now on fire, there was this huge hot spot in San Diego County that looks like it's creeping towards the coast:
Southwest U.S. - Infrared Channel 2 Loop
Southwest U.S. - Visible Loop

I'm trying to pull up some fire detection websites but they aren't updated. FEMA is useless as it doesn't give updates for weekends. This one is taking awhile to load when trying to zoom in:
SSD Fire Detection Program

It takes a bit of time but if you use Google Earth and place the coordinates of the hot spots detected near your location, under Download, you can pinpoint how close the fires are to your area.

Here is another website that links to fire and smoke layers for Google Earth. Not sure how updated it is though:
shrmc.ggy.uga.edu...

Yes, please keep us updated on your situation...God Bless

reply to post by Alexander the o.k.


Anytime. Alex

I know too well how horrible bushfire is...And I truly hope and pray everyone affected can get out of it as best they can...Yes, loss of property is terrible...But to get out of it with ALL your loved ones including pets and close personal belongings is a good thing...

Just do the best you possibly can in the circumstances you face, folks...Just know people from all over the world are thinking about you and praying for you...

And we on ATS at least, will be here to help you thru the aftermath as best we can..

Be well people and stay close...My heart is with you as I go to bed...

Peace

Thank you for the well wishes!

Wow, so they just evacuated the Pomerado Hospital in Poway which is down the road. There is a section of about 30 miles on one of the main freeways which is complete shut down. Its still smokey outside but the sun has come up so it doesn't look as grim.

I just flipped on the t.v. and they said there are 7 fires so I think they either put out or two of them have combined.

There are fires in a semi circle from the North of where I am, across to the East down to the border. One of the fires is at The Wild Animal Park and they are trying to evacuate the animals!

SDGE says so far there are 28,000 power outages.

Alexander the o.k. luckily the fires are far south of Laguna Niguel. I don't think they will be heading north but you never know, these winds are crazy.

Sorry the information is so spotty, I'm trying to type this as I hear it on the news.

Here you can see it from the NASA Terra imagery, updated every day, though I am not sure when exactly every day:
www.flashearth.com...

Edit: Hope you keep your self safe.

[edit on 22-10-2007 by apex]

reply to post by Alexander the o.k.


I'm in San Diego, so I can't give you an exact distances, but I've got a friend who lives in Laguna Niguel and he says the fires are about 5 miles from his home.

Live SoCal AM radio broadcast.

Local Firefighters asking for asisstance from Nevada and other states. High winds expected for the next 24 hours+


KFWB

Gosh this sounds awfull, UK news her is covering it on a big scale also,

Please stay safe and make sure you have your cars kitted up and ready to go,


news.sky.com...

I hear there expecting hurrican winds there in a few days?

More in News:
Fires Displace Nearly 250,000 Near San Diego

It looks like the OP, xx, has been logged off for just about an hour, must have had to get on outta there.

That was a good post of being there in it and keeping us updated while at the same time having your safety plan with your car packed up and ready to go so you could go when it is time.

I will try to keep my gas tank full at all times because the last thing you want to do in an emergency is wait in line at the gas station.

Canyon Country blaze ( Buckwheat) not expected to be fully contained within the next 5 days. 20% contained. 15,000 people evacuated. Reported by KFWB.

Its absolutely crazy......I live in Venice, so Im not close to any of the fires, but have several friends living in Malibu proper and its canyons.

As far as im concerned: Fire's are good for one thing only: Spectacular sunsets

Santa Ana winds are only good for one thing: SURF, assuming there's a swell:-)

[edit on 22-10-2007 by Steff]

Stevenson Ranch, Big Bear....Keeps growing

Listening to KFWB now......20,000 acres and growing in Malibu.

At least 14 fires

128 homes destroyed

265 000 + ecavuated

1 dead


And raging on.......

Fallbrook
Valley Center
San Marcos
EScondido
Rancho Bernardo
Ramona
Poway
Jamul
Otay Mesa

I have friends in the area and they have been evacuated. All of the places on the above list have fires and are being evacuated.

For all of those in the area, I hope you all keep safe.

There's a fire evacuation map on this page but it's giving me an error message when I click on it to zoom in:
SignOnSanDiego.com



This is the live Radio feed:
SignOnRadio