10-22-2007, 08:46 AM
So many Punatics are from California I thought this might be of interest. San Diego County is on fire. It started yesterday with an intense Santa Ana wind -- a dry desert wind that blows offshore (like a Kona wind but hotter). We have had no rain to speak of (less than our usual 10 inches) and so all the brush is very dry. Seven major fires erupted down the Eastern corridor of the County. Ramona, a large "country town" was the first to evacuate. Because we had a major fire in 2003 that killed people and destroyed many homes, people didn't have to be told twice to leave. Then my two dear friends, Punatics you haven't met, were evacuated to coastal San Diego with their four dogs this morning from Rancho Bernardo, a very dense cluster of houses.
I-15, a major North-South thoroughfare has been closed (the fire keeps jumping this massive highway). Scripps Ranch is under evacuation orders and DEL MAR, an exclusive coastal enclave has also been told to prepare for evacuation. This is unheard of....that a fire would race to the ocean. That hasn't happened yet, but to evacuate Del Mar is unprecedented....
Power is out in many locations.
Fallbrook, a community close to Oceanside, where I live is also under a mandatory evacuation order. From my backyard, I can see the mountains that separate us from Fallbrook, and can see the enormous plume of smoke from the fire on the other side of the hill. It is pretty clear that it if jumps the hill, Oceanside will also be evacuated. We are on a hill, above a dry riverbed (San Luis Rey River), near the Mission (you can see the Mission from our backyard, too). If the fire comes racing up the river, we will need to leave, as there are only two ways into the subdivision, and both of them are over the river.
So, we've got a years supply of everything, pictures, dog leashes, food, water and are waiting for the "reverse 911" call that I hope never comes. There is a Long's Drugs near here.....I bought some Kauai Cookie Company cookies there today...and found some Li Hing Mui powder, which I take as a good sign! So, we will have cookies if the freeway turns into a parking lot. Highway 5, the other major North-South route is CLOSED GOING SOUTH --- I have never heard of such a thing. So, we will have to go North, towards LA. I have a brother up there, so we will probably crash there if we are forced out.
And ALL THIS TIME I WAS WORRIED ABOUT FROGS AND PELE!
I-15, a major North-South thoroughfare has been closed (the fire keeps jumping this massive highway). Scripps Ranch is under evacuation orders and DEL MAR, an exclusive coastal enclave has also been told to prepare for evacuation. This is unheard of....that a fire would race to the ocean. That hasn't happened yet, but to evacuate Del Mar is unprecedented....
Power is out in many locations.
Fallbrook, a community close to Oceanside, where I live is also under a mandatory evacuation order. From my backyard, I can see the mountains that separate us from Fallbrook, and can see the enormous plume of smoke from the fire on the other side of the hill. It is pretty clear that it if jumps the hill, Oceanside will also be evacuated. We are on a hill, above a dry riverbed (San Luis Rey River), near the Mission (you can see the Mission from our backyard, too). If the fire comes racing up the river, we will need to leave, as there are only two ways into the subdivision, and both of them are over the river.
So, we've got a years supply of everything, pictures, dog leashes, food, water and are waiting for the "reverse 911" call that I hope never comes. There is a Long's Drugs near here.....I bought some Kauai Cookie Company cookies there today...and found some Li Hing Mui powder, which I take as a good sign! So, we will have cookies if the freeway turns into a parking lot. Highway 5, the other major North-South route is CLOSED GOING SOUTH --- I have never heard of such a thing. So, we will have to go North, towards LA. I have a brother up there, so we will probably crash there if we are forced out.
And ALL THIS TIME I WAS WORRIED ABOUT FROGS AND PELE!