Southern California Fires -- Live Thread 10/29

[ridesthemiles]

Salvation Army does a better job, with less fanfare, and doesn't lie to you about where your donations are going.

[BurbankKarl]

there is a note on the blog guy's site that they were overwhelmed with hits...I am sure once the seens of houses going up were put on the news, that people started looking for more info.....it was getting slow this morning...

[BurbankKarl]

blog guy lost his house too -- http://homepage.mac.com/joeurbz/iblog/

[ridesthemiles]

I would think most everyone is talking in terms of money right now. There is no accurate count of lives lost yet...May be weeks before that happens. Lots of single, alone people back in canyons in small places. With no family, no one reports that they are missing.
H#ll, just this week, they changed the lost person count for the 9-11-2001 mess in Twin Towers. This could take a long time for accurate figures.
No matter what, look for your home owners insurance to go up immediately.

[ridesthemiles]

Earlier reports said only Town hall and one other building in Cuyamaca were still standing.

[lainie]

was that guy given the URLs for our threads?

[BurbankKarl]

I believe he is a teacher at Rim of the World HS....and he was getting information from the rimoftheworld.net site...which actually had more scanner info and people that were actually driving around the areas, and none of the political commentary of FR. Plus he would have to weed through all the other fires etc that is posted here. He was really tired as of last night.

[BurbankKarl]

there is a FF injured in Crest Forest Group, hit by a fallen tree, being transported

[Brad’s Gramma]

Malathion? GREAT stuff.

Stinks like crazy, but boy does that work.

[It's me]

People keep praying for a soaking rain. It would help the fires but it would also cause havoc with the run off water and mud. I pray that we do NOT have a very wet rainy season even though, we need it.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Nite nic...thanks for everything.

[Fitzcarraldo]

scanner: tow vehicle needed for a truck stuck on a stump ni Lake Arrowhead - "let's get it before the fire does"

[BurbankKarl]

Just heard a request for a tow truck to get a fire truck off a stump near the hospital....they need it within the hour "before the fire gets it"

[Robert A Cook PE]

Is anybody thinking of using the military's infrared spy planes to maintain a continous overhead view of each area of the fire - looking thorough the smoke to the various flame fronts, then merging them onto a GPS grid for local control/evacuation before roads get blocked?

[Fitzcarraldo]

scanner: "...la jolla fire..."

getting com from san diego county it appears..la jolla indian reservation is near palomar mt.

[Brad’s Gramma]

The 5 is open. I'm not sure how far into San Diego...but they'll get a long way.

Someone from SD can answer that?

[SCalGal]

Also just heard that people with losses can immediately file with IRS for refund on their taxes. I didn't catch the whole story but anyone affected should check this out with an accountant.

You can immediately file for a refund on last year's taxes. You'll need an itemized list of losses, but you'll need that anyway.

The IRS will be out at the disaster sites. I just talked to a friend tonight who will be going. They can't do anything for you at the site, except guide you in the process.

Also, do not just walk away from property. Talk to your accountant first. If there is a loan on the property, and you let the mortgage company have it, they can "forgive" that debt. Debt forgiveness is taxable income.

[BurbankKarl]

This was from several days ago....

[BurbankKarl]

they are using a NASA U2 nightly.....

[lainie]

ok