Posted on 10/22/2007 8:06:14 AM PDT by Sleeping Freeper
SAN DIEGO -- With fire spreading quickly westward, San Diego County officials ordered the evacuation of a huge area east of Interstate 15 between Del Dios Highway and Highway 56 early Mon"This is the worst fire this county has ever seen -- worse than the Cedar Fire [of 2003]," Sheriff Bill Kolender said.
At a news conference shortly after 6 a.m., officials said fires had spread dramatically overnight, whipped by fierce Santa Ana winds. They said fire had jumped Interstate 15 at Lake Hodges and was burning in parts of Rancho Bernardo. Because of the explosive and unpredictable nature of the blazes, all residents living between Interstate 15 and Interstate 5 from Del Dios Highway in the north to Highway 56 in the south were told to begin evacuating.
"This fire is moving very quickly," San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said. "Watch TV, listen to the radio and have your car prepared to leave."
Among the communities in the evacuation area are Rancho Sante Fe, Carmel Highlands, Rancho Bernardo, Del Mar Heights and Fairbanks Ranch and parts of Rancho Penasquitos.
Officials have opened Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley to handle the large number of evacuees.
Sanders asked everyone in San Diego County to minimize the use of cell phones to leave the airways free for the use of emergency personnel.day.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcsandiego.com ...
Actually, it can be even worse if there’s above-average rainfall during the winter/spring seasons, ‘cuz that stimulates the brush to just grow like crazy. Then, after a long, dry summer there’s just that much more of it all over the landscape, dry and brown, just waiting around for a spark.
I never heard that before. I just know, driving through the mountain pass on Saturday, I noticed how dry dry dry all the brush is on the hillsides.
Do you live here in SoCal?
Prior horror stories aside, if I had the gas and means the last place I would go would be to where the gov't told me to hole up. I just don't trust their judgement.
I would probably get in my vehicle and keep driving.
Smoke+Pacific O sure makes for some spectacular sunsets.
The news guys were talking about how all the rain in 2005 made the brush grow, then drought in 2006 dried it out.
Hi Nic,,,Glad to hear she is ok,,,
I hope that wind dies down soon,,,
It’s blowin’ sparks all over,,,
At least one was caused by “Raul” cookin’ his beans...
Oh, “the news guys” huh? *Rolling my eyes.*
Well, they’re talking about two different years, not just one season. The dry brush due to our record low rainfall last year is the tinder fueling this fire.
IOW, it’s been more than a year-and-a-half since a good rainfall.
He was explaining the rapid regrowth of the brush burned by the fire four years ago.
haaaaaaaaaaaaa
Oh...interjecting some humor. But this is so very awful.
I watched earlier on that feed today....a house almost went up in Malibu...don’t know if they saved it, but sure looked like they were able to....of course, with the winds. Those Santa Ana’s are bad. I remember when I lived in LA area, and the many bad fires we went through. When it’s so dry like it is out there (I was just out there visiting in August), and that wind...there’s just no way to fight these kinds of fires.
I once was told by one of the pilots who dropped the slurries, that much of the time when you hear about “containment” it’s just referring to the areas that are already fried...they can’t burn any longer, so they’re “contained.”
Pretty bad.
WhatEVER.
I grew up in Anaheim Hills; lived in that area for over 25 years, most of that back before the developers replaced so much of the manzanita, and prickly pear cactus with tract homes. Back when, you could actually go up and hike around in the hills WITHOUT wondering when the Anaheim PD “ghetto bird” was going to fly over with the officer on the PA shouting at you to get your butt back to civilization.
“Public Land” my fine, white...
Anyway. My mother still lives there, so I keep an eye on news from the general area.
Indeed.
Okay, if you lived here then why do you disagree re the cause of the fires?
No foolin’,,,one was caused by a “campfire”,,,guess who ?
From what I see on FOX the wind is still blowin’ strong...
I read that one of the charred dead was an illegal, as well as three others burned.
So.....another illegal started the fires? Is that who they say is the arsonist in the San Diego fire, or they don’t know yet???
Thanks for the link. I’m speechless. May God help them.....C
We are still in for a world of hurt. Just watched an attempted backfire near Ramona. Done by some tractor crews. The winds took the control fire and moved it faster then the tractor could chase it down. Crossed over the fire break road. Had to evacuate along with the NBC San Diego crew. They cannot stop it with back fires yet. Jumping over fire breaks still. Wind still blowing.
Wait, I think you misunderstand me somehow.
I didn’t set out to say that you were wrong, or that you had misidentified anything as a cause of the fires; we agree about what you initially posted. Dry brush + high winds + high temps = bad juju.
All I tried to point out is that, as bad as the brush conditions are now, it would be worse if there had been average, or above-average rainfall during the last rainy season. The more water the southland gets out of a given rainy season, the more green grass comes up in the spring. The more green grass that grows in the spring, the more dead, dry, brown grass there is on the hills in the fall.
Dead, dry, brown grass, as you rightly pointed out, is what’s up there on the hills right now going up in flames; all I intended to add is that there’d be even more of it available to burn if the winter and srping had been more rainy.
I read that one of the charred dead was an illegal, as well as three others burned.
So.....another illegal started the fires? Is that who they say is the arsonist in the San Diego fire, or they dont know yet???
~~~
I can’t remember which one it is but one was “arson” as they put it(campfire)...
310 sq.miles burned so far,,,(FOX)...
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