SoCal Fires Live Thread 10/28

10/28/03 | Myself

[spectr17]

SoCal Fires Live Thread 10/28

[PhiKapMom]

I am watching KTLA and so far they are keeping the fire below HW 18 because of backfires they have set and because the wind is blowing to the south so far embers are blowing to the south back on the fire.

[maggief]

Tue - October 28, 2003
Updates since 7:56am (PDT).


Worse case scenario is here.
Backfires are being used on 18; so far, so good.
Here comes the air support!!!!!!


- The eastern part of the fire is well established running toward Running Springs, Arrowbear, and Fredalba. It is fast; crews are establishing coordination and strategies now.

- Air support is on its way to coordinate with ground troops.

- From the fire captain on KTLA: As long as the winds stay South, the backfire should meet the main fire and MAYBE burn out a bit. It all depends on the winds staying their course. If the winds change toward the school.... well, let's not think that way. No air support yet.

- "The only thing I know about Twin Peaks is that Rose Lane was okay at about 7:00. I have family working up there (Sheriff) and we expect to hear from him after he gets some rest." [Tannah; message board]

[maggief]

Scanner - priority radio tower over high school ... oh, my.

[Travis McGee]

The only problem where I am located (2 miles from the beach, 4 miles north of Seaworld, just west of I-5) is the horrible air. Other than that, things are okay. It's 100 times worse for the folks 5-20 miles east of me. With schools all closed, you have a lot of stir crazy kids and parents.

The long-term health effect of breathing this nasty smoke remains to be seen. It's loaded with micro-particles of paint, plastic, chemicals etc. It's like living in a chimney if you have to go outside, and it's MUCH worse out east of here around the burn zones.

[lainie]

With schools all closed, you have a lot of stir crazy kids and parents.

I thought about that while we were doing our math yesterday :-) (homeschooling)

[lainie]

what does that mean? I can't connect -- it's telling me it's full

[maryz]

I just sent an email to a friend of mine in San Diego

Have you gotten a response? I tried e-mailing relatives in San Diego last night; early this morning I was notified it wasn't going through. The message said they'd keep trying for (I forget) 24 or 48 hours.

[Toidylop]

I'm in Escondido. The area is still thick with smoke and hard to breathe (less ash coming down, however). There's more controlled burn in the Daley Ranch/Dixon Lake. Hope the air will get better with more marine layer coming in.

[Fitzcarraldo]

the phone system in parts of san diego county is in a shambles - was told there are over 400 telephone poles down...

[skraeling]

Once I "moved", I qualified (and got to keep my Atlanta locals).

Great idea, but doesn't always work. If you move outside the range of the directional spot antennas for one city/region you simply don't receive those signals anymore. I'm suffering from that problem now.

[dogbyte12]

So far, here in the San Gabriel Valley, the air actually seems better than yesterday. Yesterday, it smelled like a camping trip, today, not so strong.

[maggief]

I think they mean which takes priority, radio tower or high school. Reply ... radio tower. Are they dumping from the air up there?

[lainie]

do you think they mean the tower freepers were speaking of earlier, Strawberry Peak?

[lainie]

I was told they're not dumping because the winds are too strong up there. The winds aren't bad elsewhere, though.

[farmer18th]

KNX about 10 minutes ago was interviewing a fire official who kept talking about holding the line at 18, but didn't really make mention of the Strawberry Peak, Daily (sp?) canyon fire. Are they purposely leaving that part of the fire out of their discussions to avoid panic? Just wondering....

[John Jorsett]

Hope the air will get better with more marine layer coming in.

I just found an online animation (here if you're interested) of the smoke plumes from the fires. Looks like the wind has shifted so that I'm between two of the major plumes, but the wind is still pretty much from the East.

[maggief]

Sorry, I wasn't on line earlier. Keep trying the scanner link.

[berkeleybeej]

I read from AP that some animals were evacuated from the Wild Animal Park. Do you have any further info? How close is the fire to that area?

[Travis McGee]

A neighbor of mine is a Navy Commander "Seahawk" pilot stationed at North Island (across San Diego Bay, the north end of Coronado where the carriers are based.)

They have 100 of these Navy-version blackhawks over there, and they are all trained for carrying heavy sling loads, (it's a routine job they do in the fleet, dropping cargo onto ships). He can't understand why there were never tasked with water bucket missions, and still have not been. A Seahawk can lift a water bucket the size of a van. It's a very easy and safe mission, he says. Fly to lake, descend to fill bucket, fly over fire, drop water. Repeat until out of fuel, refuel, continue.

There are 100 Navy Seahawk helos, sitting at North Island, ten minutes flying time from the fires. At least 75 of them are "flyable" today, immediately, if given the order.

What is the sense of that?

If this turns out to be the beginning of a new form of terrorism, then certainly we had better get the military involved where ever it can be. If the first fires were attacked by helicopters with water buckets the first hours they were reported, they might have been put out while they were still small.

Certainly, we need to evolve a new strategy for dealing with coordinated arson-terrorist started fires, a strategy involving the IMMEDIATE use of every available helicopter capable of lifting a water bucket.

What is the sense of having 100 Navy Seahawks sitting idle at North Island, fifteen miles from the fires??????

[The Mayor]

My sister lives in Lake Forest, is she in danger??

I haven't heard from her..