Update from the weblog of a teacher at Rim High School. Link to the weblog, as well as the link he mentions in the log entry, at the end of this post:
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Tue - October 28, 2003
Evening Edition -- 10:14 pm PDT
I need to rest for a bit. Please visit this link for more information on any area.
I will update every hour or so through the night; I also have had 3 hours of sleep since Friday.
Our hearts go out to ALL victims and workers of ALL the fires in CA.
- Update: The fire is holding west of the Santa Ana drainage and threatening Running Springs. [USDA Forest Service]
- There is a group of fire fighters hunkering down because they are surrounded by a fire. They ARE holding their own and keeping the fire within a perimeter. The Silverwood fire has many complications and is being difficult to control. More crews are coming from the Grand Prix fire. Evacuations in this area are a priority.
- The fire in Devore is active and being covered on TV; more strike teams are coordinating.
- "We have so far dodged the cedar fire here in poway, so we are praying for another miss in Running Springs." [San].
- "GVL still quiet, winds calm." [Jeff]
- Confirmed: "Urbz, my husband is a deputy and just went past the Storybook Inn about and hour ago and it was standing and fine for now." [G, message board]
- The vet on Bear Springs seems to have survived. [J. Moody]
- Much needed assistance from other states are on their way (Nevada firefighters and Utah Hot Shots).
- KCAL9's Rick Chambers stated that the high school is in decent shape and there was no real threat as of now.
- Eric Leonard from KFI am 640 is reporting from the side of HWY 18 and saying that fire still has not reached RS, yet. [message board]
- Rim forest update. Sheriff deputy checked out viking tire ok, and surrounding houses. The ones that burned were across from the cable company up to the block building all along that side. [G, message board]
- Patrick Healy reported that they are hoping the NE direction of the fire will spill into the area BETWEEN Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear. The winds are going south to north, which is bad. The Running Springs flank of the fire is about 2 miles from Running Springs.
- Highway 138/Lake Silverwood is on fire: 40 plus acres. They are working on it; but it is erratic.
- More news coming. Mr. Leonard from AM Radio 640 seems to be pretty accurate with his coverage (you can access them via their website as a streaming radio station). TV is really struggling with accuracy.
- An ABC7 helicopter reporter said the fire that crossed 18 near Kuffle had laid down. He said that air fire crews told him it was due to fire retardant drops and the cool of evening. Fire fighters are to go hard at the area tonight. [Herb Stroh]
- Fire officials are EXTREMELY concerned that the two flanks (SkyForest & Running Springs) will conjoin and create more havoc during the night (they assume this is inevitable). The fire has NOT reached Lake Arrowhead just yet, but it is jumping all over the place by Rim High School crossing 18 back and forth. [Chuck Henry, NBC4]
- Big Bear update: Traffic evacuating on Highway 18 are moving at a slow but steady pace. Some people have gone back to their homes because traffic was so thick; they did not want to spend the evening on the road (there are over 80,000 in the mountain communities). Speeds pick up after the hairpin turns. Smoke has filled the Valley even though the actual fire is a good distance away from us. I loaded a picture of smoke at sunset to
http://www.bigbear.us [Radha Khalsa]
- All structure damage & loss reports are handled by the police or sheriff authority, where the structure is located, not the Red Cross!
- The State of California Insurance Commissioner has established an information line for the public to use for questions on insurance-related matters. The toll-free number is 1-800-927-HELP. Information is also available on the Internet at www.insurance.ca.gov
- On October 27, 2003, President Bush declared a major disaster for the State of California, triggering the release of federal funds to help people and communities recover from the Wildfires that occurred October 21, 2003, and continuing. Toll-free Tele-registration number for disaster victims: 1-800-621-FEMA, TTD 1-800-462-7585.[incidentcontrol.com]
- There is still a battle going in SkyForest & Santa's Village. Chuck Henry on NBC4 gave a longer detailed report (and this time, he was on safer ground).
- Waiting for the temperatures to drop to the 30's & 40's and maybe the wind will die down and add humidity.
- The whole Big Bear area is under a MANDATORY evacuation. Check www.bigbear.us for updates. Also check out CBS2 website.
- More coming... (it is hard to get factual data now; like the fire itself, false claims and incorrect information is rampant.)
- The fire is crowning now leading into Lake Arrowhead. It will not let up whatsoever.
- 80 percent of aerial tactics have been called off tonight for Lake Arrowhead due to columns of smoke. [NBC4]
- NBC 4 news is reporting that police have found an abandoned van that matches the description of the arsonists'' van. [Robert Daeley]
http://www.nbc4.tv/news/2586925/detail.html - Listening to the scanners, especially the air crews, their professionalism and communication skills are impeccable. [webmaster]
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Joseph's weblog:
http://homepage.mac.com/joeurbz/iblog/index.html The link he mentioned:
http://www.rimoftheworld.net/messages