San Difuego

Stuff is on fire around here. My home and office are not immediately in danger, and in fact are not on any mandatory or voluntary evacuation lists, but the general fire situation is said to be worse than in 2003. I wasn't here then but I understand it was pretty bad. I know some people that have lost everything, and some that have been evacuated. I live (rent) in a wealthy area near the coast, which I would suppose is pretty much the last place the firefighters would allow to burn. Theoretically I could end up trapped between the fire to the north and the other one by the US/Mexico border, but the fire would have to burn through pretty much the whole city to get here. The office has been closed the last two days, and will be again tomorrow. So far, smoke and ash all over everything have been the biggest issues - the air is considered unhealthy to breathe. The store by my house is pretty much sold out of milk, water and other short-term survival items. Probably people remembering the last time there were bad fires.

There are two main fires - these are the Witch fire to the northeast and the Harris fire to the southeast. As you can see from the photo, the smoke is blowing out to sea quite a ways. I have a friend here who is a firefighter and, assuming he makes it through this ok, I am sure he will use that to get into the pants of some unsuspecting girls. As if he doesn't do that enough already.

The issue is the Santa Ana winds, which have been uncharacteristically strong and blowing from east to west. Wednesday night and Thursday morning, they are supposed to subside a bit and change direction, so the fires should stop moving toward the coast. Del Mar was briefly evacuated and it is another wealthy area on the coast, about 10-15 miles north. It was a little odd that the authorities were sending evacuaees and pets, horses, etc. to the Del Mar fairgrounds even while Del Mar was being evacuated. Same deal with high schools in Carlsbad. A lot of people are being allowed back into their homes now.

Qualcomm stadium is a big evacuation point. Governor Schwarzenegger has been walking around there, meeting with victims. The President is supposed to be coming out here on Thursday. It may be interesting to compare FEMA's response here with the response in New Orleans, seeing as how San Diego is pretty white.

I did volunteer my spare room for evacuees, but so far the space hasn't been filled with any single, hot blondes. That makes sense, as the evacuating areas are generally single family neighborhoods. Not too many families want to squeeze into one room and share a bathroom in a place that doesn't allow pets. I've also volunteered to move out entirely, staying with a friend, but no one has taken me up on that.

Sentimentality is not my strong suit, but thoughts (and prayers for those who believe in that sort of thing) are with the victims. The following sources seem to have current information, though they are occasionally down - probably due to overcrowding the servers.

General news (San Diego Union Tribune)

Map of fire and evacuated areas (UT)

UT's Fire Blog

San Diego State has some great fire coverage and information