Holy crap! I don’t know if I could keep myself together that well, while watching my place burn. That really sucks… for all these people.

Oh, and while I’m here… I’ll just post what I, for unknown (even to myself) reasons, just sent to Allah and Bryan.. I guess I just wanted everyone to know “I was first!”

I just wanted to be first to shout “George Bush doesn’t care about largely well off Californians and celebrities!”, when we all realize that he isn’t on the ground putting out the California fires. However if he makes a sudden trip out there, I’m going to shout “How dare he get in the way for a photo op!”

Exit Fun: 0 Carbon Offset Credits to the first person who can find someone (liberal blogger, Associated Press writer… whoever) attributing the fires to “global warming”.

RightWinged on October 23, 2007 at 8:32 AM

My good thoughts to him and his family.

Canadian Infidel on October 23, 2007 at 8:39 AM

Prayers for the evacuees and firefighters.

Prayers that the death toll stays at zero.

kooly on October 23, 2007 at 8:39 AM

I agree with the sentiment, but I believe the toll is already at 1… but I could be wrong.

RightWinged on October 23, 2007 at 8:42 AM

Here is the deal:
If you live in fricking CA. You need to use non-flammable materials.
Steel , brick, stucco, hardi-plank, slate etc.
Insure you have a suitable fire break.
Use succulents instead of resinous things like fricking eucalyptus.
One might also think about storing some water say in a pool.

I aint like there haven’t been warnings.

Tile roofs are useless if they are on timber rafters.

TheSitRep on October 23, 2007 at 8:46 AM

Here’s my deal:
As much as I hated Southern California (mostly because the people I knew in San Diego were mean and rude), I feel for the people in San Diego. This really sucks. It’s terrible that so many people are losing their homes. They do make the homes there on the cheap and like matchsticks they are, but still, to lose their entire homes and the memories wrapped up in them, painful. But it’s better to lose possessions than to lose lives.

Praying for them all (even the ones who were jerks to me).

mjk on October 23, 2007 at 8:57 AM

TheSitRep - Yeah, we pretty much know that. The modern codes have been specifying that sort of things for years. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of houses built pre-code.

Here’s the deal. When you have fire whipped by hurricane strength gusts, you often have glass breakage. At that point, cinders and sparks can enter your house, and it is game over, no matter what the exterior materials of your house are.

I suppose we could put up hurricane-type shutters, but it can take all day to do that (unless you live in a cinderblock pillbox), and often, the fire warnings are only a couple of hours, unlike a couple of days for hurricanes.

mpbk on October 23, 2007 at 9:05 AM

The video was weird, too. Is it pouring rain? Or was all the water from the fire fighters?

Jaibones on October 23, 2007 at 9:28 AM

It’s not very often I’m impressed by a reporter. It’s even less often I feel any sympathy for them, but man, that was tough.
Prayers for San Diego.

arkansasmike on October 23, 2007 at 9:35 AM

The citizens didn’t learn from New Orleans… 10,000 have flocked to a football stadium (the Qualcomm Stadium in this case) and well… I almost don’t want to tell you what’s happening…

Like in New Orleans, the “bodies are piliing up” and there are rapes occurring left and right, and as I mentioned earlier it’s all Bush/Global Warming’s fault:

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071023/D8SETS4G0.html

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Like Hurricane Katrina evacuees two years earlier in New Orleans, thousands of people rousted by natural disaster fled to the NFL stadium here, waiting out the calamity and worrying about their homes.

The similarities ended there, as an almost festive atmosphere reigned at Qualcomm Stadium.

Bands belted out rock ‘n’ roll, lavish buffets served gourmet entrees, and massage therapists helped relieve the stress for those forced to flee their homes because of wildfires.

San Diego is about 2 seconds away from Fox News sending Geraldo and Shep down their to hold up children and cry and scream “let these people leave!!!” Don’t push them SD, they’ll be there quicker than you can say “George Bush doesn’t care about white middle to upper income people!”

RightWinged on October 23, 2007 at 9:57 AM

Hope he’s insured.

roninacreage on October 23, 2007 at 10:02 AM

My brother, his family, and my father are supposed to fly to San Diego Wednesday. My Nephew is supposed to graduate bootcamp from the Marines on Friday! I’m thinking this won’t happen.

For those of you in the know..do they postpone the ceremonies? What is protocol for this?

Pam on October 23, 2007 at 10:25 AM

Check in when you can, doriangrey.

steveegg on October 23, 2007 at 10:32 AM

Where’s all the looting and violence due to the massive evacuation?

500,000 people and counting. The NBC team interviewed folks at Qualcomm and we saw scenes like this.

tree hugging sister on October 23, 2007 at 10:42 AM

Stay safe everyone.

Theworldisnotenough on October 23, 2007 at 10:59 AM

Pam,

The best bet, if you have a phone number to MCRD, is to call and see if any decisions have been made as to graduation etc. A note to anyone planning to come here to SD in the next couple of weeks. Most of the major tourist attractions are closed today and until further notice. They are predicting approx. 500,000 people to be evacuated by the end of the day today. The fires are threatening to burn all the way to the Pacific if the Santa Ana continues. Many evacuees are taking hotel rooms in the area also. After the huge fires 4 years ago I thought I wouldn’t see another one while I was stationed here in San Diego but here we are almost exactly 4 years to the day of the most destructive fires ever in California and these now will be the the worst ever. Keep us all in your prayers.

ic1redeye on October 23, 2007 at 11:12 AM

horrible, just horrible for people to suffer like this.

ThackerAgency on October 23, 2007 at 11:20 AM

Excellent reporting and updated maps here

RushBaby on October 23, 2007 at 11:23 AM

Just damn, dorian. Hopefully that backfire was between you and the main one; would make the wind direction much easier to take.

steveegg on October 23, 2007 at 11:31 AM

Entelechy, PatrickS, Doriangrey,
Hope ya’ll are ok. Take care of yourselves and know that your friends in Texas are thinking of you!

pullingmyhairout on October 23, 2007 at 11:40 AM

Time to update my SoCal list.

I’ve got doriangrey, PatrickS, and Entelechy. Anybody else dodging the smoke?

Stay safe, upwind and downhill, gang.

steveegg on October 23, 2007 at 11:42 AM

My family is staying prepared to evacuate if need may be. This evacuation and this fire, for all its horror, they moved 250,000 people with a SINGLE casualty. That casualty is horrible don’t get me wrong, but the evac sites have been orderly and well prepared and there has been no problems. Many in San Diego call these fires “our Katrina” but we were prepared and ready to go from the get go.

Btw the reporter, Larry Himmel, might be annoying but he’s one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. And the big witch fire is hitting one of the richer areas of San Diego and it hit the houses of Ladanian Tomlinson, Trevor Hoffman, Bruce Bochy and David Justice

Defector01 on October 23, 2007 at 11:59 AM

First: Prayers and best wishes to all in danger of the wild fires. I hope the worst passes with no harm to self and property.

Question in that report: Did I hear him say they tried clearing the underbrush to prevent the spread of the fire? I’ve heard/read that this is the primary reason for the fires fast spread. I also heard that environmental groups like Sierra Club sues to prevent the clean up of the underbrush as some kind of perverted protection of wildlife. Does anyone know if that is true?

Kini on October 23, 2007 at 12:40 PM

That was the M.C. Escher of all news reports if I ever saw it…

Captain Scarlet on October 23, 2007 at 12:54 PM

Kini on October 23, 2007 at 12:40 PM

As much as I’d like to, can’t lay the blame there. Coastal Commission allows for clearing brush around homes.

The bottom line is that we live in a dry “chaparal” type area that is evolved to burn periodically. Fire is normal here - everything is evolved to survive it, and it actually serves a positive purpose. The problem is that millions of people now live here, and fire and people don’t mix.

peski on October 23, 2007 at 1:14 PM

This video is missing, too. Being bit by the YouTube rights management screening?

desertdweller on October 23, 2007 at 12:22 PM

It’s still working for me, and since it’s from the station itself, I don’t think it would’ve been flagged for a rights violation.

steveegg on October 23, 2007 at 1:23 PM

This video is missing, too. Being bit by the YouTube rights management screening?

desertdweller on October 23, 2007 at 12:22 PM

It’s still working for me, and since it’s from the station itself, I don’t think it would’ve been flagged for a rights violation.

steveegg on October 23, 2007 at 1:23 PM

Maybe I hit a momentary outage at YouTube. I see it now.

desertdweller on October 23, 2007 at 3:32 PM

Just so you know, Pam, I just now saw where they may be evacuating parts of Camp Pendleton as one of the fires approaches…..

That’s got nothing to do with Marine boot camp. Graduation is (and boot camp is) at MCRD, which, if that’s on fire, we’ve got catastrophe cubed. MCRD is adjacent to Lindberg Field, which is on the coast, and if the fire gets to there, the destruction it would have to leave in it’s path is unthinkable.

I’d call ahead, but expect the ceremonies to proceed.

Pablo on October 23, 2007 at 5:10 PM

That’s got nothing to do with Marine boot camp. Graduation is (and boot camp is) at MCRD….I’d call ahead, but expect the ceremonies to proceed.

Pablo on October 23, 2007 at 5:10 PM

Egad! You are correct, sir! How soon I forget my Gomer Pyle reruns!

PatrickS on October 23, 2007 at 7:59 PM