S. CA is on fire!

[bright eyed]

abc7.com: Southern California Fires: Evacuations and Closures

there are fires to my north, east, west and south my car was covered in dust/ash this morning.

my younger sister is packing up and going to hang out at a friend's house.

the winds were insanely bad last night. we were in anahiem for dinner and it was like we were in a tropical storm w/out the rain.

i've seen it this windy about once every decade or so - the santa ana's are a familiar annual occurance - but this is really bad!

the winds are up to 100 mph last nite in some parts about 50-80 everywhere else and just sending the embers all over the place. i can't imagine what those poor firefighters are facing. it seems much calmer today, at least where i am, but the winds are supposed to be around at least until tomorrow...

 

[MasterBlaster]

To many people from Peoria, this is justice and comuppance for the perceived sins of the Hollywood lifestyle.

I might comment though that the fires are indeed severe, however they are mostly confined to canyons and nearby mountains. The fire crews (I'll bet) will see to it that few structures will burn. The fallout from the smoke will be alot worse than the fires for almost everybody.

So if you can choke through a day or three of local news entertainment then I suspect that you will come out just fine.

 

[bright eyed]

i'm generally of the opinion that there are some places that shouldn't get developed and malibu burns every year and the taxpayers pay too much to stave the fires off the mansions and i'm sure it affects all of our insurance rates as well...

but these winds are nuts! and embers are flying everywhere, humidity is like 2-3% (usually 30-40% around here) so it just feels a bit unnerving. there is usually a fire or two at a time, there are a dozen or so up here and about 5-7 in san diego county...

 

[Brat]

There are benefits to living in a climate with rain.

 

[W2R]

I have been watching the fires on CNN (took the day off for other reasons).

I sincerely and fervently hope that none of those we "know" on this board are in danger, and that none of their ER plans are in danger either, from these fires!!

Bright Eyed, be careful!

 

[WanderALot]

Bright-eyed, we are in Irvine and the smoke is REALLY bad. The fire, which apparently is an arson fire , is about 3 miles from our house. It looks like it's more contained than it was last night, so we're not too worried, but if this fire crosses Portola Road and goes west a bit, it would hit some VERY densely populated areas.

I agree about the Malibu bit. There was talk on the news about several of the Orange County Fire Dept. sending crews to help on the Malibu fire and now we have fires here!

 

[bright eyed]

oooh wander! be careful, the smoke is bad over here and i'm many miles from the closest one (at least 30)...part of the reason my sister left was more the smoke. i don't know how this will affect my daughter's asthma!

 

[perinova]

Ouch...
My in-laws in Rancho Bernardo (SD) evacuated couple hours ago...
They had many close calls in the past I think it is the first time they were asked to go.

 

[bssc]

I have friends in SD and told them that the only thing on the news was the Malibu fires. My question is, Are Paris and Britney impacted?

Seriously though, I hope everyone gets out of this in one piece. And I hope that people think twice about rebuilding in a fire zone (or pay higher premiums.)

 

[haha]

Seriously though, I hope everyone gets out of this in one piece. And I hope that people think twice about rebuilding in a fire zone (or pay higher premiums.)

Lots of very expensive, very attractive residential real estate in those canyons. Don't worry, it will be rebuilt!

Ha

 

[Moemg]

. i don't know how this will affect my daughter's asthma!

I have asthma and smoke usually bothers it . I'd keep her inside and close your windows until this gets contained .

 

[califdreamer]

I'm amazed at the number of people that have been told to evacuate here in the San Diego area. Large swaths of suburban areas relatively close to the coast have been evacutated. Very strange.

 

[MasterBlaster]

My question is, Are Paris and Britney impacted?

Seriously though, I hope everyone gets out of this in one piece. And I hope that people think twice about rebuilding in a fire zone (or pay higher premiums.)

Paris is on fire but Britney is only smoldering.

Per the fire zone, the insurance companies wanted to raise the rates to actually reflect the risk that these homes take on being in natural fire-sweep zones like canyons and mountains. However our legislature decided that this wasn't fair so now everyone subsidizes these (often upscale) properties so that their fire insurance premiums are "reasonable".

Some of these homes have been rebuilt 3 or 4 times after a different fires sweep through. The owners then just take the fire insurance money and rebuild....

So guess who is paying for them to live in these fire-prone zones.

 

[bright eyed]

I'm amazed at the number of people that have been told to evacuate here in the San Diego area. Large swaths of suburban areas relatively close to the coast have been evacutated. Very strange.

I just heard 250,000 people evac'd in San Diego!

 

[Dawg52]

Lots of very expensive, very attractive residential real estate in those canyons. Don't worry, it will be rebuilt!

Ha

Much like the rebuilding from hurricanes. If it's a pretty area, people will come back.

Good luck to everyone out that way!

 

[laurence]

This fire in San Diego is way beyond million dollar homes on the edge of a canyon. We lost power today for an hour, downed power lines everywhere, one fire just missed us, but believe me, the bags are all still packed and in the Jeep with a full gas tank. One of the fires is headed directly to where Tori rides horses, I hope they got them all out.

We have friends who bought a home in a quiet little town just east of us called Ramona, they've been forced to evacuate. They have no idea if they still have a home. I have many friends who I have not been able to reach and I've seen footage on T.V. of houses burning within blocks of their houses in Rancho Bernardo.

There is literally a million people in the path of these fires, it's really scary. Before we say, "F them, they knew the risks!" remember every part of the country has it's share of natural disasters. Fire is ours.

Now we are just waiting to see if a fire threatens us again, and we won't wait for the reverse 911 call to leave.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

and to think one of our south florida hurricanes would put out that fire like a spent cigarette and if it stalled just right would fill up lake lanier in georgia. after all these years of asserting our place in the world you'd think we'd do a better job of managing mother nature. or then again, maybe not.

 

[MasterBlaster]

These SoCal fires are getting out of hand...

 

[MasterBlaster]

A little more seriously, here is a NASA satellite photo of the Los Angeles area showing fires burning and smoke

Here is a photo of downtown Los Angeles, many miles (maybe 20 or so) from the fires. Los Angeles gets smog but this is ridiculous

 

[REWahoo]

These SoCal fires are getting out of hand...

MB, when the property and even the lives of some who post here are at stake, I don't see much humor in your post.

 

[MasterBlaster]

MB, when the property and even the lives of some who post here are at stake, I don't see much humor in your post.

Sorry Dad, I am sorry that your humorless life makes it necessary for you to scold me.

I promise I won't do it again and I am really sorry.... for you!

For those that don't know I live in SoCal and have wildfires burning way too close to my house. Evacutions were recommended for neighbors of mine last night.

 

[REWahoo]

You obviously have the ability to laugh in the face of adversity, but for many of us on the outside looking in, it's tough to make the call on what's brave and what's crass. I sincerely hope you and yours escape any damage.

 

[W2R]

Wish we could send you some of our rain!! It's raining hard here as I type, and has been all day. We're not flooding in this neighborhood (though others are flooding), but I can't help but think this rain would be great for quenching your fires.

 

[laurence]

We'd take the halt of the winds at this point. The flames jump the firelines so easily.

 

[W2R]

We'd take the halt of the winds at this point. The flames jump the firelines so easily.

Those Santa Ana winds can be fierce, I know.

Back in the early 1980's, my ex and I survived a fire that went all along a ridge above our Spring Valley, Calif home, two blocks away away from us. The embers were dropping down on us, and I was really scared! I had to leave, pulling the boat filled with stuff behind me, with our (then) baby beside me in her car seat and leaving my (now) ex standing on the roof with a hose amidst the shower of embers. And THAT was for a fire that didn't cause evacuations. I can hardly imagine how awful it must be right now.

I am really, really hoping those winds die down.