diehli Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 So last night I was worried about the range I'm a member of being torched (West End Gun Club), and now I have to worry about my house being burned. Fire + wind = bad news. Fire's about 3 miles away and haven't gotten word of a mandatory evacuation and hopefully I won't. Homes about 2.5 miles away have been evacuated... scary stuff. Winds are coming from the NE, though, at about 30-50 mph, which would blow it away from me. Anyhoo, wish us all luck... those that have already been affected and those who could be affected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uscbigdawg Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 Take care buddy. Those of us up north are praying for you. When you can, let us know how it goes and that you are alright. God bless y'all, Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 Very freakily sorry to hear about this... Was watching the news last hour and thought, "What??!! Again??!!" Seems the fires have been virtually non-stop this year... in many places. Keep us posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironman Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 300lbgorilla, Best of luck with saving you home. I will say a prayer for you. I am next to the fire south of you in Fallbrook. At night I can go in my back yard and see the flames. I am about 10 miles from the hot spot now and it is moving away from our home. Thank God! Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diehli Posted October 25, 2003 Author Share Posted October 25, 2003 Thanks guys. Yeah... we can see the flames during the day, sometimes. At night the smoke just glows. It seems that everywhere BUT here is covered in a pell of smoke. Our house is actually pretty safe now. It's even clear right where we are... all thanks to the wind. Now here's the bad news: My school is on fire. The athletic complex on the northeast corner of campus is getting it right now. None of the news stations are covering it, either... f#$king horse racing. There are no choppers up right now because of the winds... things are getting worse. I hope they find the bastards that started these fires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairtrigger Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 Best of luck to you. I had a fire in my barn. Glad for insurance but I was way underinsured. Either way fire is nothing I would wish on anyone. Well........ maybe the gungrabbers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Norris Posted October 26, 2003 Share Posted October 26, 2003 300lb, glad to hear your out of the woods for the moment and good luck for the future. Now, if I can use your thread to purge my own demons for just a second.... I HATE from the deepest darkest pits of my soul people who intentionally set fire that have this sort of destruction. Juveinile fire setters are one thing, I can't really muster the same hate I can for adults that get a high off of on unleashing the red devil. The the word I heard is that this is an arson fire. The peice of fecal matter that set this fire has put thousands of civilians and brother firefighters in nnnecessary danger so they can get off on whatever fire gives them, collect insurance money or whatever other demented reason they start fires. I've spent three years of my life in a dangerouse enough as it is job WITHOUT some a-hole attempting to give me more work. Not to mention that developers are building stuctures that may collapse in as little as 8 minutes after a fire starting (another Hate thread entirely). The worst kind are the individuals who are out to hurt firefighters intentionally (reference the Arsonist handbook) by cutting holes in floors, blocking responses, venting buildings to allow fire spread, ect. Unfortunately, arsonits are rarely caught, and often minimally punished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diehli Posted October 26, 2003 Author Share Posted October 26, 2003 Totally agree with you, Kyle. I got this knot in the pit of my stomach that I'd like to beat into someone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironman Posted October 26, 2003 Share Posted October 26, 2003 3 More fires started here. One started in Ramona and is down to Mira Mar and over to Lakeside the other is in Valley Center. 100 structures burned and 11 deaths, over 80,000 acres have burned. The area has been declared a state of emergency. The news said that a lost hunter started a signal fire to draw attention to his position. This is the worst fire we have seen since 1984. How about a little prayer for the fireman. It's coming my way... Jim Updated 1:00 pm 10/26/03 Updated 3:15 pm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 I have worked on Interagency fires during the summer months (teacher) for 17 years and your situation sounds like it is about as bad as it gets. Some of my friends are on overhead teams out your way and today even more resources were called from here. There are 2,400 fire fighters on the Grand Prix fire alone. My prayers are with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 My sister, her husband, and my two nephews evacuated their home in Alpine (eastern San Diego county) amidst smoke and falling ashes. It sounds like they won't have a house to return to. My mother and father, elsewhere in Alpine, are preparing a bug-out kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironman Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 Thanks Ron. Erik, sorry to hear about your family. I hope they will be spared. 6:51 pm The winds have died down for now but tommrrow they will head Southwest in the morning and West up to 50 mph by noon. Otay is getting hit hard as is Poway and Romona. No Chargers football game tommorrow. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 The mayor (?) of San Diego asked the NFL to cancel the game because Qualcomm stadium is being used as an evacuation center. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hostetter Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 For what it's worth, the fire stopped about 1 block north of my house in north San Bernardino. Houses were lost to the west and north of me last night. It got very close............ I am also a LEO in Rancho Cucamonga where the Grand Prix fire is burning. We have been 12 on/12 off since Friday morning with that fire. It is finally moving a little west of us which is good for us but bad for Montclair and La Verne. The high winds are preventing good air support, but the fireman are doing an excellent job. A lot of homes have been lost but there would have been a lot more if not for the fireman. We have had great support from not only local departments but from surrounding agencies as well. We have a lot of horses in north Rancho and a group called Animal Rescue has done an excellent job helping getting all the animals out. These people work for free using their privately owned trucks and trailers in cooperation with the SO, PD, and FD's to help. They go into harms way and never ask for anything in return. If you ever run into them doing a fund raisier please support them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 My prayers are with all of you during this horrible time. The stories of people helping without being asked always make me ask myself why it is that it takes a big tragedy to bring out the best in people. And there will be the a-holes that will be all upset that there wasn't some stupid football game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 BTW, one of the fires was apparently started by a lost hunter who started a "signal fire." I wonder if he got rescued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 Here's a satellite photo of SoCal showing the smoke blowing to the southwest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironman Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 1:27pm 10-27-03 2:35pm I just got home. The latest one broke out at the intersection of Hwy 76 and Interstate 15 and has burned 10 acres. This one is 5 miles from my home. No where near the other fires. Damn Pyro's. The other fires have burned over 150,000 acres, 14 deaths and 580 homes lost. It is 1.5 miles north of the Wild Animal Park. The good news is that the winds have not come up like they said they would yesterday. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 My sister's house and those of her three nearest neighbors were spared but everything else nearby burned to the ground. They are at my parents' place, with no power. None of the stores are open so they can't buy food. Half of the neighbors have evacuated. All the hotels in San Diego are booked solid with evacuees. The smoke is so bad, they are taking my nephews to the beach for their health. They say the destruction is much worse than the national media, and even the local media, are reporting, including the death toll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironman Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 This link will take you to a map that I have been compiling from the TV reports and my scanner. fire map Here is a 3D view 3D map Latest update is 200,000 acres burnt. By tommrrow we will have twice as many fire trucks as we do today per the Governer. Jim 7:06pm Thanks 300lbGorilla, I agree with your comments. I also hope that you and yours remain safe. Our close fire is controlled. Now we wait... 9;10 am 10/28/03 881 homes lost, Camp Pendleton fire is 100% contained, Otay fire has burnt 45,000 acres and is 90% contained, Cedar fire has burnt 206,664 acres and is still out of control, Paradise fire has burnt 30,000 acres and is still out of control. Humidity is up and the Santa Anna has died down. More help is on the way. At this time we are not at risk. J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 We nearly lost my parent's home to a fire about 15 years ago. I feel your angst over this mess. They better find all jerkweeds that started this mess and burn them at the stake for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diehli Posted October 28, 2003 Author Share Posted October 28, 2003 I'm very sorry to hear about all the bad situations that you and your families are in. I hope everything works out. If I were the hunter that started the fire in San Diego that's claimed all those lives and homes, I would have already killed myself. My aunt (my dad's twin sister) and her husband (I guess he's my uncle... hadn't thought about it until now) who were recently married and moved to San Diego within the last couple of months were evacuated and are staying in Carlsbad. They haven't been allowed back home, obviously. Devore is real close to us so we've been watching that all day. The winds could, potentially blow it southwest towards us (if the Santa Anas pick back up). The Grand Prix fire seems to be burning back around the north side of the mountains here, so now we need to watch that and hope it doesn't crest the mountain and get the unburned portions that lead to our house. The anxiety is killing me. We've been watching the fire almost a week and are just waiting for something to happen. We'd obviously hope for the fire to stop, but that's not looking like something that will happen in the immediate future. Eating too much, stomach hurts, nose itches, etc. I reiterate: "This SUCKS!" On top of it all, my grandpa (dad's dad) in Florida fainted in church yesterday. He's alright, but their not quite sure what it is. May or may not be stress related. Just another thing to add to this pile of stuff. To the arsonists: you f@#kers better hope that the authorities find you first... I've got a butane torch and some pliers to aquaint you with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thandy Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 1:27pm 10-27-03 2:35pm I just got home. The latest one broke out at the intersection of Hwy 76 and Interstate 15 and has burned 10 acres. This one is 5 miles from my home. No where near the other fires. Damn Pyro's. The other fires have burned over 150,000 acres, 14 deaths and 580 homes lost. It is 1.5 miles north of the Wild Animal Park. The good news is that the winds have not come up like they said they would yesterday. Jim hello Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Freeman Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 Just so you know the military is sending out its firefighting C-130's to help. I should be there by mid afternoon. I will be in the grey C-130 with the big #2 on the side. We will be flying out of Oxnard/Pt Mugu. Hopefully the fires will get scared and go out now that the cavalry is coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 Be safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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